Decisions We Make
by A fallen Fate
Summary: The choices people make in life have an effect, both on their lives and the lives of others. So what would have happened if some had chosen to fight instead of running away? What if Luffy had been given more time? Would Ace have made it out alive? Either way, Luffy would not be leaving Marineford alone, even if he didn't know it yet. Fix-it story, AceLu mpreg.
1. Choices

**Well, after three long years of planning and writing, this story is finally ready to be shown to the world. I got the idea for this story simply from wanting Ace to have survived Marineford and the need for an AceLu mpreg story that actually had a meaningful plot.**

 **First off, this story will be a long one that will more than likely take a few years to finish completely as I have 70+ chapters planned out. However, I promise that this story will be finished to it's entirety, no matter how long that might take. Another thing that I must warn of is that this _is_ an mpreg story which means that Luffy will be getting pregnant (at least two times) and Ace shall be the father.**

 **As for future parings, I haven't completely decided as I only write Ace/Luffy romantic stories but I might add in Frobin (Franky/Robin) and Zosan (Zoro/Sanji). Nami may be hinted at dating another woman (possibly Vivi), but as I said before, these other parings are not yet decided and would not be the main focus of the story.**

 **Now, without further adieu, here is Decisions We Make!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.**

* * *

Going through life, it will become very clear that even the simplest of actions will have an effect on how a person's life will play out and it will start as soon as they are born.

When Luffy was born, though it wasn't in his power to choose, he had ended up in the care of his grandfather; a battle-worn Marine vice admiral, instead of with his parents. From there, he had been taken to a quiet little place called Fushia Village.

By living there on Dawn Island, Luffy had met Shanks, a captain to one of the most powerful and awe-inspiring pirate crews that had ever sailed the seas. This meeting had sparked something in Luffy and brought about the decision that would eventually change the world.

The decision that one day, _Luffy_ would become the King of the pirates.

It was a big dream, one that suited the rambunctious seven year old, but like most children's dreams, not many people believed that Luffy would _actually_ accomplish it.

After all, it seemed like an absurd idea for the people in Fushia Village and Shanks's crew to believe that a scrawny brat like Luffy would eventually hold such a powerful title.

Though their lack of faith didn't stop Luffy's conviction; he was determined to one day be Pirate King no matter what.

His determination would lead him to having to make some tough decisions later on in life and would force him to face many hardships and challenges along the way to accomplishing his dream.

However, all of that was farther down the line. The choices he made in the present were what he needed to worry about the most.

Like that of his rash decision to tell Garp, his Marine-to-the-core grandpa, about his plans of becoming a pirate.

This choice had ended Luffy's life living in Fushia Village and had brought him to Mount Colubo to life with Dadan and her mountain bandits. The purpose of which was to kill Luffy's dream and to make him want to become a Marine instead.

Despite this, rather than make Luffy stop wanting to become a pirate, by living with Dadan in her harsh, yet loving care, Luffy had met someone who not only strengthened his dream but gave him another thing to strive for.

This person was Ace, a freckle-faced child with a damaged heart, who believed that he didn't deserve to live. The cruelty he encountered in his life made him hateful and distrustful of those around him and it made Luffy want to change that.

To show Ace that it was okay that he was alive and that Luffy _wanted_ him to be.

To let him know that someone _did_ love and care for him. To have him no longer be insecure as to his worth, because even though Luffy had just met him, he already meant the entire world to him.

That was Luffy's new dream and he been determined to achieve it, because no matter how much the ten year old resisted, Luffy had already decided.

Ace was _going_ to be his friend.

So even though each attempt that Luffy made at befriending Ace nearly resulted in his death, the seven year old never wavered, because once he had made his mind up, there would be no changing it.

As such, Luffy continued in his endless pursuit of Ace's friendship and yes, it _did_ almost end up with him getting killed by Bluejam's crew but, dammit, it was _worth it._

It was worth it, because when Luffy thought that he was finally going to die by the hands of Porchemy, Ace showed up and _saved_ him.

He had chosen to not abandon him and after that, it had been easy to finally become Ace's friend and later his sworn brother, something that had truly made Luffy feel like he had a family.

That he finally had a place to call home and people that would love and care for him no matter what.

Then Sabo died . . . and Luffy felt like his world had ended.

Sabo had been as much of a brother to Luffy as Ace was. He had been the glue that kept them together and stopped them from fighting.

When all else failed, Sabo had been the voice of reason that would bring them together again and suddenly he was just _gone_.

For what seemed like the longest time after his death, Ace and Luffy had struggled to find their center again. However, both of them were hot-headed and it caused many fights, one of which almost resulted in the loss of Luffy's life.

After that, Luffy had found that they were okay again. Ace had started to make up for Sabo's absence and had started to becoming kinder and more protective of Luffy.

It had brought them closer than they had ever been and that bond was what had kept them strong even though their brother was no longer with them.

That was why while Luffy's choices, like choosing to befriend Ace and his dream of becoming Pirate King, had brought him thus far, it had been Ace's choices that would affect them further.

His decision that they would live their own lives and not interfere with the others once they turned seventeen and became pirates had been particularly life-changing.

It meant that Luffy would not be able to intrude in Ace's life, no matter what happened.

Yet, at the time when Ace had announced this rule, it hadn't occurred to Luffy that one day he might be forced to break it.

Why would he have? Luffy was used to listening to Ace and doing what he said. After all, Ace was the older, stronger, _smarter_ brother and Luffy never wanted to make him angry, because he _loved_ Ace.

Luffy loved making him happy, because when Ace was, he would smile and laugh and act like there _wasn't_ this gnawing need to know if he deserved to live.

However, Ace had made this decision _years_ ago when Luffy had not been currently faced with Ace's dawning execution.

With such a huge danger facing his brother, Luffy simply _couldn't_ continue to follow Ace's rule anymore.

As such, Luffy had a choice to make—one that would affect not only his life and Ace's, but the lives of his crew, the Marines, the Whitebeard pirates, and probably a dozen more who he didn't even _know_.

This choice would undoubtedly make Ace absolutely _furious_ at Luffy, but that didn't _matter_ anymore and Ace could be mad at Luffy all he wanted.

There was no way in _hell_ Luffy was just going to sit around and let his brother, whom he loved so _much,_ be executed.

So really, the choice wasn't that hard to make.

"I wanna go save Ace!"


	2. Contemplate Reality

**Just a quick reminder that this story is also available on Archive Of Our Own under the same title and author. Also, comments are greatly appreciated!**

 **Chapter summary: Luffy finally nearing Impel Down.**

* * *

When his eyes had first laid sight on this crisp, white piece of paper, Luffy had been confused as to its importance, as well as to how it could be so special to his brother.

Nonetheless, he had kept it safely with his treasured straw hat because if Ace thought that it was important, then so did he. Still, he neglected to think about it until he reached Thriller Bark.

When Lola had brought up the subject of vivre cards and their significance, Luffy had finally remembered the neatly folded paper Ace had given him back in Alabasta and he had wasted no time in removing it from underneath his hats red ribbon.

He had never expected to see it _burning_.

Understandably, this had worried him, especially after Lola explained that it showed the life force of the person who created it.

The burning meant that his brother was in trouble and a large part of Luffy wanted to go and help him.

However, the smaller part, the one that refused to upset Ace by going against his wishes, won out.

After all, if Luffy went to where Ace was, the flame user would likely be pissed at the young pirate captain for trying to take care of him when Ace considered it _his_ job to do so.

As such, Luffy had ignored Nami's concern and put the vivre card back underneath the ribbon.

Still, his worry about Ace's safety and well being continued, so Luffy would check on the piece of paper everyday to see if it had returned to its original size, but each day a little bit more was taken away by the steadily burning flames.

It continued to burn in Sabaody and even after Luffy was separated from his crew.

The card burned until there wasn't much left of what was supposed to show his beloved older brother's life and when Luffy finally learned about Ace's dawning execution, there was no question about it, Luffy _needed_ to go and save him.

He knew he wouldn't survive losing another brother, because he couldn't live with himself if he failed another person that he loved.

After all, Luffy had already failed his crew, losing them to that _bastard_ Warlord. He couldn't lose Ace too.

That was what had drove him to begging Boa Hancock for her help and was what had landed him on a Marine ship headed for Impel Down.

It had already been three days since Luffy and the Pirate Empress had left the safety of Amazon Lily. With only a day left until they finally reached their destination, Luffy's already frayed nerves were on edge and his stomach churned with worry.

If only he had gone to Ace when he first noticed the vivre card burning; maybe then Ace wouldn't be heading for the execution block now.

"Luffy," he heard Hancock say, "are you okay? I have your next meal here if you would like to have it."

Sighing, Luffy tried to muscle up the enthusiasm that he normally had when it came to food, but it was hard to even _think_ of eating when he thought about where Ace was and what they both would be facing soon.

After all, Luffy was up against the Marines, against his _grandpa_! If at all possible, Luffy wanted to avoid confronting the old Marine, because even though Garp hadn't exactly been _kind_ when attempting to train Luffy all those years ago, he was still family and that meant a lot to Luffy.

Nevertheless, if it came down to his grandpa or Ace . . . there would be no choice, Luffy could _not_ lose his brother even if it meant fighting Garp, even if Luffy died in the end.

He would not be able to keep on living if he failed to save Ace.

He just hoped that he'd save him before it came to that.

"Luffy, did you hear me?" Hancock asked, stepping into Luffy's line of sight.

Nodding, Luffy gave a small smile to the older pirate. There would be no use brooding over this now; he needed to focus and try and eat while he could. After all, who knows when he'd get the chance to do so again?

"Thanks, Hammock," Luffy said as he jumped from his perch by one of the circular windows of the ship and over to the large cart filled with sea king meat.

Taking a large slice, Luffy began to eat as his mind began to wander again about his current situation.

About Ace and the danger they both would be facing.

About his crew and if they were safe wherever they were.

About whether or not he would even _see_ his family again when this was all over. . . .

If he would ever battle alongside Zoro again, to see his first mate become the greatest swordsman.

If he'd ever get to see Nami finish her detailed map of the world. Or if he'd ever be able to tell Usopp that he truly had become a true brave warrior of the sea.

If he would ever get to help Sanji find the All Blue and Chopper find the cure to every disease.

If would ever get to hear more of Robin's stories or see Franky's new inventions.

If he would ever get to hear Brook play another amazing song.

Just thinking about them made Luffy miss them even more and by the time he finally snapped out of his memories, all the sea king meat was gone and his belly was full.

Not bothering to lick his fingers as he really couldn't taste much of anything, the rubber teen wiped his hands on his shorts before taking a seat on one of the plush blue couches; Marines really had a thing for blue didn't they?

Nestling into the couch, Luffy tried to relax his tense muscles so that he might sleep a little and thankfully, after nearly ten minutes of tossing and turning, Luffy finally fell asleep.

The thing about sleep was though was that it wasn't always peaceful.

As he slept, dreams of Sabaody and his crew filled his head, forcing him to watch his crew disappear from him one by one all over again. He tried to run to them, to save them from the unforgiving hands of Kuma, but his body couldn't _move._

All he could do was watch as their screams for help filled his head.

It was horrible to see, even in his dreams but when Ace suddenly appeared there, two Marines holding swords above his exposed neck, Luffy couldn't help but simply _scream_ as they were slowly lowered before cutting off Ace's head.

Gasping awake, Luffy, drenched in sweat, tried to make sense of where he was before reality finally came back to him. Shaking the horrible image of Ace's detached head from his mind, Luffy gratefully took the offered glass of water from Hancock.

Gulping it down, Luffy offered the Empress a thanks before climbing off the couch on shaky legs, needing to move. To be able to feel the vibrations from the ocean through the ship's floorboards and to take in the reality of _this_ place and not that of his nightmares world.

"Are you alright, Luffy?" he heard Boa ask, obvious concern in her voice. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"

Shaking his head, Luffy leaned against the cool wooden wall, allowing the gentle shaking of the boat to sooth his erratic heartbeat. "No, I'll be fine, Hammock. Just a bad dream is all."

"Well, it seemed like a very unpleasant one by your reaction," Hancock added. "When I have them, I find that it can help to talk about them."

"Really?" Luffy asked, taking a seat by the window again. Outside the sky was dark and the ocean nearly black as the moon casts its pale glow onto the rippling waves.

"Yes, would you like to tell me about your dream?"

Heaving a tired sigh, Luffy plucked his hat from his head and ran his fingers over the worn red ribbon. "I was dreaming about my friends," he mumbled, eyeing where he had placed Ace's vivre card.

"I see," Hancock muttered before continuing. "Normally a person would think that dreaming of one's friends would make them happy, not frightened."

"Yeah and normally it would. It's just well . . . the last time I saw them something really horrible happened and now I keep seeing it in my dreams," Luffy explained quietly as he placed his hat back onto his head.

"If you would like, why not tell me something happy about them? That may help you forget what you recently experienced," Hancock offered, a smile pulling against her pale cheeks.

At the mention of talking about his beloved crew, Luffy could feel himself perk up as he began to recall some of his adventures with them.

Like when they traveled to the sky and defeated Enel and later when they landed in a Marine base and Luffy got to eat all that yummy food.

It was so much fun recalling his amazing adventures and by the time Luffy finished, it would only be a few more hours until morning. Only a few more hours until Luffy finally arrived at Impel Down; the place where his brother was being held.

Only a few more hours until everything would be on the line; his and his brother's lives and both of their futures.

If Luffy failed, everything he was striving to save would be lost and that simply _couldn't_ be allowed to happen.

So, when Luffy would finally step inside of Impel Down, there would be no turning back from his decision to save Ace.

There would be no second chances. Once Luffy was there, he would _have_ to succeed, that was all there was to it.

This meant that tomorrow when Luffy entered that horrible Marine prison, while he would be entering there basically on his own, as Hancock would not be able to help him once inside, he would be no means _leaving_ alone.

Ace would be with him, he just _had_ to be.

With that final thought, Luffy felt his eyes slip shut, comforted by the fact that soon, Ace would be with him again. Just like the good old days.

 _No matter what happens, I will rescue you._


	3. Arrival

**Well, I hope that you all are enjoying the story so far! Chapters will continued to be added every week until two-week intervals are needed.**

 **Chapter summary: Luffy enters Impel Down and finds a surprising companion.**

* * *

When morning eventually came, it was of no surprise to Luffy when he was overcome again by worry.

Tension rolled off of his body in almost _physically_ tangible waves and his stomach churned like the sea he was currently sailing on as they neared the entrance to Impel Down.

Try as he might to calm himself, Luffy couldn't help it. There was so much pressure on him to not mess up and fail like how he had failed his crew, so how could he _not_ be stressed out?

Hancock's reassurances did nothing to soothe his worries and only seemed to add to them.

As such, when Luffy finally pulled back the maroon curtains of the windows to stare at the dense fog that surrounded this large and rumored to be inescapable prison, he felt a cold sweat begin to form as he watched the towering gates open, revealing the dozen or so Marine ships beyond.

"What the hell!?" he hissed, eyeing the large vessels. "There are more ships here than there were for the buster call!"

"This is the most dangerous place in the world, so all of these ships are necessary," Hancock explained as she turned away from the door where outside there were surely Marines waiting to take her and by extension, _Luffy,_ into the prison. "But more than that, you witnessed a _buster call_!?"

Ignoring the question as he observed the tall walls of the prison, Luffy couldn't help but nibble nervously at his lip. "So, this is where Ace is?" he asked quietly as he finally turned to look at the surprisingly calm Hancock.

 _How can she be so calm?_ Luffy thought to himself, walking over to her.

Unclasping her cloak, Hancock opened it up as she gave a terse nod. "I believe he should be being held deep underwater. Now, get under my cloak."

Nodding, Luffy stretched his rubber body around her waist and stomach so that he wouldn't be noticed, even under the heavy cloak.

"Are you ready?" Hancock asked as Luffy felt her begin to walk, most likely towards the door.

"Un," he mumbled against her back.

Underneath Hancock's heavy cloak, Luffy was unable to see what she saw and was unable to know if they had entered the prison yet.

However, even underneath the thick garment, Luffy's keen ears could still make out the loud yells from the men outside and he didn't quite understand what all the soldiers were wooing for. Wasn't this supposed to be the greatest prison in the world? Shouldn't they be more _serious_?

Though, all of the fawning _did_ remind Luffy of Sanji, which the thought of his nakama calmed his nervously beating heart, if only slightly.

It made him wonder how they were doing right now. Were they safe wherever Kuma had sent them, or had they already arrived back at Sabaody and were waiting for him?

There were so many possibilities, but Luffy just hoped that they were okay and were doing alright without him.

"What is with all this noise? It's hurting my ears," Hancock said, voicing Luffy's own opinion and breaking him out of his thoughts. "Can I turn them into stone?"

Catching the sound of footsteps stopping in front of Hancock, Luffy heard a man begin to speak. "Please don't. The Navy can't take any more humiliation."

"Humph," Hancock huffed before continuing to walk forward.

As Luffy continued to listen, trying to make out what was going on, he noticed that there was now a change in the noise, making him squirm around Hancock in nervous energy. "Are we inside yet?" he asked quietly, his voice a mere whisper.

"Not yet. Don't rush, Luffy," Hancock whispered back before the man from before spoke again.

"The condition you named was to see the man responsible for this war, Portgas D. Ace, correct?" he asked.

"Yes, that was my condition."

"Well, like I told you the other day, pirates, even _Warlords_ such as you, are not welcome here. So we will have to put you in seastone cuffs and conduct a _strict_ body search before you go in. Do you understand?" the man inquired.

"Are you ready for this, Luffy?" Hancock whispered under her breath so that only Luffy could hear.

" _Yes._ "

"I don't mind," Hancock replied after getting the all clear from her hidden stowaway.

Luffy knew that this added development would make entering Impel Down that much harder but he couldn't back down now, not after how far he had already come.

Catching the unmistakable sound of a door creaking open, Luffy's best guess was that they were finally entering the prison. Taking this chance, Luffy tried to relax as much as he could before he had to make his break for it.

For the most part, Luffy ignored the sounds of a woman and a squeaky voiced man talking to Hancock until he caught the last bit about what the woman said regarding a body search.

Knowing that soon he would have to sneak away, Luffy finally started to pay attention to the conversation Hancock was having with the other woman.

"If you were a prisoner, we'd ask you to go inside of this cell and take off all your clothes," the woman began as Luffy listened intently. "Then we'd push you into an iron pot with ' _the warm water of hell'_ , which is boiled to two-hundred degrees to receive your baptism as well as get sterilized, and then you would be ready to enter."

Luffy felt his heart and stomach plummet as she continued on, describing all the horrible ways they tortured prisoners here.

Had Ace been subjected to these kinds of horrors? Luffy hoped that he hadn't, but his hopes were dashed as the woman spoke again.

"There are different classes of prisoners. Among all recent newcomers, Fire Fist Ace, Jinbei of the Seven Warlords, and the former Warlord Crocodile didn't turn a hair while receiving baptism and entered prison _very_ smoothly."

So Ace _had_ been subjected to this torment, and if he had to endure this, then what other horrors did he have to endure here? Luffy couldn't handle thinking about it.

"Please come inside. We search guests in a private room, so don't worry." Luffy heard along with the sound of another door being pushed opened.

"I'd like for you to take off your cloak. They are well-suited for hiding something so I'll need to take it. It's not like I don't trust you but please refrain from doing anything suspicious," the woman explained. "Surveillance transponder snails are located everywhere inside Impel Down and they continuously send video to the surveillance monitors."

Hearing this, Luffy quickly suppressed a groan. Avoiding all those things would make saving Ace undetected a lot more difficult, especially if they were everywhere in the prison!

"Now, let us begin. If you would, please let me put these seastone cuffs on you," the woman asked.

"I am not a prisoner and yet you want to put handcuffs on me. That's incredibly _careful_ of you," Hancock said as Luffy felt her body tense from underneath him.

"Please put them on."

Hearing the polite, yet obvious, demand, Luffy could feel both his and Hancock's hearts beat nervously, the pulse humming through their skin and echoing in Luffy's ears.

This was the moment everything could go wrong and it was all up to Hancock to keep it from failing; she _couldn't_ mess this up. If she did, the Luffy's rescue attempt would be over before it could even begin.

Luffy wished that he didn't have to put this much pressure and danger on her, but she was his only option. Without her, he wouldn't have been able to get even _this_ far.

Luckily though, it seemed that Hancock had a plan.

"Please be gentle with me." Hearing a gasp come from the other woman, Luffy wished he could see what Hancock was doing as she shouted, " _Mero mero mero_!", before telling Luffy that it was finally safe to come out.

Quickly unwinding his body, Luffy took a grateful breath of the cool air as he wiped the sweat from his brow. It had been getting quite hot underneath the fur cloak.

Taking in the wooden walls and stone floor, Luffy spared a glance at the stone woman before turning to Hancock.

"That was close! I thought I'd have to take a risk and escape, but you can turn anything into stone!" Luffy exclaimed, placing his hat back onto his head as he grinned up at her.

"It looks like I can't go any farther with you. I can't use my power while wearing those seastone cuffs and I won't have my cloak so I'll be unable to hide you," Hancock began, her expression falling. "I wish I could do more but. . . ."

"What're you talking about! I couldn't have made it this far without your help! After all, you were able to get me in here even though this whole place is surrounded. I'll be fine!" Luffy said with a grin.

Honestly, she had already helped him out a lot!

"Luffy, they built this place as a fort that locks people in. Please don't get into any trouble, because once they catch you, you'll never be able to get out," Hancock pleaded as her body shook slightly. "I know that you're strong but _promise_ me that you won't get into any trouble."

Luffy listened quietly as Hancock spoke and when she finished, he grabbed onto her hand.

She had done so much for him and if it wasn't for her, Luffy wouldn't be able to save Ace now. So the least he could do was try and follow her wish.

"Alright, I promise! Thank you so much, Hancock! I won't forget what you've done for me. I owe you!"

Letting go of her hand, Luffy stretched his arms up towards the wooden rafters he had spotted when Hancock had said it was safe and climbed onto them.

Making sure that he was sufficiently hidden, Luffy raised an eyebrow at Hancock's position on the floor.

Was she okay? She had an awful habit of always ending up like that, maybe she was sick or something?

"Hey! You can revert them back now, I'll be fine!" Luffy called, frowning as Hancock mumbled something. "Hey!"

"Ah! Of course, Luffy!" Standing from the floor, Hancock raised her hand as if to blow a kiss towards the jailer and snail that was attached to the wall. " _Awaken_."

As quickly as they had been turned to stone, the woman and transponder snail changed back even quicker.

"Ah, what . . . um sorry, it appears I spaced out for a second. Shall we continue with your body search?" the woman said, obviously confused by what had just happened.

"If that's what you wish," Hancock replied, holding out her hands for the seastone cuffs. Stepping towards her, the female jailer locked the cuffs onto Hancock's wrists.

"I apologize for any discomfort but this is standard policy. Now I will remove your cloak." Pulling at the clasp, she pulled the thick garment away and placed in on the long wooden table in front of her.

Luffy watched anxiously as the jailer patted Hancock down before giving a satisfied nod, having successfully found nothing suspicious.

 _If she only knew,_ Luffy thought to himself as she and Hancock stepped out of the room. Now was his chance!

Silently, Luffy slowly lowered his body from the beam. Seeing that the guards were distracted, Luffy stretched out his arms towards the ceiling outside of the room.

Having successfully latched his rubber body onto another thick wooden beam, Luffy watched as Hancock and her group headed off.

Zipping forward, Luffy followed close behind them from above as they headed towards the large elevator, listening intently to their conversation in case they revealed anything about Ace.

Once the small group stepped into it, an alarm started to ring as the metal gates began to close, separating Luffy from Hancock.

The time had finally come and Luffy was almost giddy with joy at the thought of _finally_ being able to save Ace.

Letting his upper body fall from the beam, Luffy grinned upside down towards Hancock.

He owed her so _much_ ; he'd have to repay her someday. Seeing her nod at him, Luffy gave her a thumbs up. "Thank you," he whispered.

As the elevator lowered, Luffy glanced around as the creaks from the chains of the elevator echoed across the stone walls of Impel Down.

"Now where should I go? That guy with Hancock said the elevator was going down to the basement and she said that Ace might be held underwater . . . oh yeah!"

Letting his body zip back towards the beam, Luffy took off his treasured hat and fiddled with the ribbon before he grasped onto Ace's vivre card.

This would be able to help him find where Ace was! Letting the paper rest in his hand, Luffy watched as it moved downward.

 _It's this way!_ Luffy thought to himself before he dropped down from the beam. Making sure to be as quiet as possible, the rubber teen began his trek towards Ace.

As he ran in the direction that the vivre card was pointing, Luffy soon found himself at a set of stairs, leading down to who knows where. "Ace must be down these stairs!"

Breaking off into a run, Luffy headed down the long flight of steps, the sound of his sandals echoing in his ears as he did.

Reaching the last step, Luffy hopped off and took the chance to finally catch his breath.

 _This vivre card keeps leading me down, but it's a dead end._ Luffy thought to himself, licking his dry lips as he eyed the towering wooden door next to him before the sounds of fast approaching footsteps caught his attention.

Quickly, Luffy shot himself back up towards the beams as guards charged forward to where he had just been standing not even a second ago.

"It's prisoner 8200! He was hiding the fact that he ate a devil fruit so he wasn't given seastone handcuffs, Don't let him get away!" one of the guards yelled as the door opened and they charged inside.

"Hurry up! Split up into pairs of two and get him from both sides!" Before the doors could close again, Luffy quickly shot himself towards the beams in the next room.

"Yosh! I made it!" Luffy quietly said to himself as he watched the guards scatter below him. "I wonder who prisoner 8200 is?" he muttered, watching as the guards ran off.

Seeing that the coast was now clear, Luffy let himself fall from the beam again and onto the floor below.

Surrounding him were dozens, no, _hundreds_ of barred wooden doors. "Are these all cells?" Luffy said quietly, eyeing the doors before a scream caught his attention.

Listening as the scream continued, Luffy determined it not to be from Ace, having heard his brother yell before.

This one was _far_ too high pitched to belong to him.

Ignoring the cry, Luffy turned towards the opposite direction and ran off.

As he ran, it was hard to ignore the constant screams that were coming from _somewhere_ and Luffy tried his hardest to go where he believed they _weren't_ coming from.

"This way!" Luffy cried quietly as he ran forward when he suddenly heard the sound of something releasing.

Gasping, Luffy looked up just in time as spikes began to fall towards him. Unable to help his own scream as he dodged them, Luffy maneuvered with the agility of a cat until he had successfully evaded the spikes.

However, it looked like those weren't his only problem.

"What the—GAH!" With a yell, Luffy dodged the new incoming spikes from the wall until all of them were stuck in the opposite one.

Heaving a weary sigh, Luffy let his stretched limbs zip back to their original forms.

"That was close! I didn't even see that coming!" Luffy said to himself, as he looked behind him towards the protruding spikes. He always hated spikes, since they could actually _harm_ him.

"Hey! The traps over here have gone off!" _Uh oh!_ Hearing the approaching voices, Luffy ran off and into the hallway next to him.

The guards must have spotted him as they yelled, "Stop!"

Not wanting to be captured or have to deal with a fight, Luffy jumped towards the large chains that hung in front of him, which once he was latched onto began to lower quickly to the other level of this floor.

Slightly surprised when he didn't hear gunfire or anymore shouts from the guards, Luffy glanced up.

"Oh? It looks like they aren't coming." Satisfied that he had successfully avoided confrontation and stayed out of trouble, Luffy jumped off of the chains. Once his feet landed, he was off again.

"Hey! Young man!" Stopping his run, Luffy paused outside of a cell where a group of men were locked up.

"What?" he asked with a frown. He didn't have _time_ to deal with these guys! He had more important places to be after all!

"Just wait a minute! How did you get out?" one of the men asked, noticing Luffy's impatience. _What a stupid question!_

"Get out? I got _in_ from outside!" Luffy replied before giving a wave. "Okay then, bye-bye!" Just as Luffy was about to head off again, he was stopped by another prisoner.

"Wait! Quit lying, you!"

He wasn't lying! Luffy _never_ lied but . . . that was mostly 'cause he was the worst liar _ever_. Also, why lie when he could get Usopp to do it and in a much better way? "It's true!"

 _Apparently_ , the prisoners weren't buying it. "Who are you anyway? You don't look like a jailer," one inmate asked before yet another prisoner spoke up. Seriously, how many of these guys were there!?

"Why aren't you hiding behind bars?" a rather short prisoner asked, holding onto the bars in front of him as he looked up at Luffy.

"Man, you guys are irritating!" Luffy whined, scratching at his black hair before he remembered that since these guys were prisoners, they might know where Ace was! "Oh yeah, do you guys know where Ace is?"

"Ace?" a prisoner with long hair repeated quietly.

"This _Ace_ that you're talking about is Fire Fist Ace, correct?" the inmate with the long scar on his face reconfirmed.

Luffy nodded. "Yeah! I'm here to rescue him!" At this the inmates began to laugh, the sound of it harsh and loud, as if they thought what Luffy said was the funniest thing in the world.

"That's impossible!" a man from the cell across from the one Luffy was facing chuckled, making Luffy frown harder. Nothing was impossible! After all, many people didn't think that there could be islands in the sky and Luffy and his crew had learned first hand that there could be.

"Yeah," the man with the scar agreed. "I heard that he just got in."

"They must have put him on level five. You can't get anywhere near it," a man with a mohawk and almond shaped eyes elaborated. "It's impossible! That floor holds all the criminals with bounties with hundreds of millions or more!"

 _Wait, did he just say level five?_ Luffy asked himself, Hancock had told him that there were only _four_ levels to Impel Down. "Level five?"

The inmates, unfortunately, _ignored_ his question. "By the way, young man, can you run to the jailer's room and bring us some keys?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah! Please, young man! It must be fate that brought us together in this big world, right?" _Fate_? Luffy didn't know about that.

Luffy was unable to reply to the prisoners pleas because suddenly, he could hear yelling and something, well _something's_ coming his way.

"What's that?" Luffy asked as he looked at the approaching inmate and four large blue things that were holding axes, unaware of the fast approaching danger.

From their reactions, it was clear that the men in the cells knew what and how dangerous the creatures were. "That's Blugori!" they screamed in terror, pushing against each other to get further into their cells and away from the approaching guards.

"Blugori?" Luffy repeated, the beasts nearly upon him.

"Run young man! They're going to get you!" Luffy was just about to listen to the prisoner's suggestion when the Blugori grabbed onto the blue haired man they were chasing and with a quick thrust of its ax, cut the man straight in half.

"AUGH! What're those!?" Luffy yelled as he broke into a run. The strange Blugori following close behind him as the man that had just been split into two ran besides him.

" _Ehh_! Straw hat, what're _you_ doing here!?" the blue haired man asked in surprise as Luffy finally noticed him and turned his head towards the other pirate as they continued to run for their lives.

"Huh?" Staring at the blue-haired man, Luffy frowned as he racked his brain for an answer to who this man was. _Oh_! He remembered now. "It's just Buggy," Luffy stated dryly, turning his head away, unimpressed by the pirate.

"That's right you asshole!" Buggy screeched as his head floated slightly above his body continued to run. "You're as annoying as ever I see! Ha, I didn't know they got you too!"

 _Why did people keep thinking he was a prisoner here!?_ "I came here on my own will! No one got me!"

"HUH! Nobody comes here on his own will! _Ah_? Don't tell me you heard that I was captured and you came here to _rescue_ me!?" Buggy cried, his eyes filling with unshed tears before he blanched in unconcealed disgust. "No way, stupid! That's _gross_!"

With a hard slap to the back of his head, Luffy fell forward, almost losing his balance because of it. "Cut it out, bastard! I promised Hancock that I wouldn't get into any trouble, but you got me involved!" Luffy yelled, his voice spitting with anger.

He had been doing _such_ a good job at avoiding attention and then Buggy comes along and ruins it!

"It's not like I'm enjoying this situation!" Buggy rebutted, grabbing a fist full of Luffy's blue vest.

"LET ME GO!" Luffy snarled back, grabbing onto Buggy's face in retaliation, which Buggy responded in kind by harshly pulling at Luffy's rubbery cheek.

Suddenly the two quarreling pirates heard a strange growl of some kind before a large ax was coming down onto them.

Narrowly missing the large weapon, Buggy and Luffy let go of each other and quickened their already breakneck pace.

"Buggy's peaceful escape plan is officially ruined!" Buggy whined loudly.

"Who gives a shit!?" Luffy yelled back, honestly he had much more important things to be doing right now than dealing with _Buggy_ of all people!

"EHH!" was Buggy's indignant cry as they approached the huge, threatening wall of Blugori that awaited in front of them.

"They're ahead of us too!"

"Damn it all!" Buggy cried, holding onto his head.

"Hey," Luffy said, catching Buggy's attention again, "should we just fight them?" Honestly they were getting _really_ annoying and Luffy had wasted enough time as it was.

"What're you thinking, stupid!? You don't know how painful all the torture's been!" Buggy explained as tears fell from his eyes. "They're so cold blooded!"

No, Luffy didn't know how bad the torture had been, but Ace did, because he must have been subjected to it. So Luffy didn't want his brother to have to suffer through it any longer! He needed to save Ace and he couldn't do that if he was getting _chased_ constantly!

"That doesn't matter as long as we don't get caught!"

"What're you talking about?"

"I gotta hurry! My cover's already been blown too!" Luffy explained as Buggy gave a groan. "Huh?"

"That's what I don't like about you and Red-Haired! You guys always stay positive in a bad sense!" Buggy sighed. "Alright, I'll do it! Not like I have a _choice_ so I'll just change my plan!"

Decision made, both Luffy and Buggy stopped running and turned to face the herd of Blugori.

"Now for some chaos!" Buggy yelled, pulling back his arm.

Following Buggy's lead, Luffy pulled back his own arm. "Alright!" With a loud battle cry, the two pirates threw their punches, both fists knocking out the Blugori that they hit.

Seemingly undeterred by the twos actions, the other Blugori continued to charge at Luffy and Buggy. In an attempt to avoid the collision, Luffy jumped high into the air before landing on the opposite side of the guard.

" _Gum-Gum whip_!" Luffy yelled, swinging out his leg and knocking down the two Blugori that had been chasing him.

With two down, Luffy turned around to where Buggy stood cowering as a single Blugori came charging at him.

"Stop, stop, _stop_!" Buggy cried, holding up his arms as he flailed around. The Blugori didn't seem to even contemplate the request as it raised it's large ax, preparing to slice Buggy in half. "NO! Ah, just kidding. _Chop-Chop emergency escape_!" With his head detached from his body, the devil fruit user used his powers to lift the Blugori high into the air, laughing all the while.

As Buggy continued with his own move against the large blue attackers, the situation quickly reversed itself when Buggy's attack failed to harm the Blugori, which resulted in the blue monster attacking him instead.

Seeing his . . . _comrade_ in danger, Luffy intervened with a strong punch to the Blugori's gut, halting the raging beast.

Retracting his fist, Luffy moved away as the Blugori fell to the stone ground, unconscious.

Letting his head attach to the rest of his body, Buggy cleared his throat as he observed the fallen Blugori.

"It looks like you've gotten stronger since the last time we met."

Luffy nodded. "What kind of animal are they, anyway? They're really tough!" Luffy exclaimed, eyeing the blue creature that was currently lying on the stone ground.

"They're fighters from the sea called Blue Gorilla, known as Blugori. Stay sharp, there's still four more. . ." Buggy trailed off, eyeing the other four Blugori's current _defeated_ states. "Ah! Well then, it looks like you've already taken care of them!"

"Yeah, but I don't have time to mess around with them. I gotta go rescue Ace!" Luffy explained, frowning at the Blugori. So these were some of the enemies he would have to face here.

"WHAT!" Buggy screamed, face contorting in surprise as he finished tying one of the Blugori's axes to his back. "You wanna rescue Ace!?"

"Yeah," he said, slightly uncomfortable when Buggy pressed his face close to his.

" _Shh_! Be quiet!"

"You're the one who's screaming!" Luffy hissed back. He had been super quiet until Buggy dragged him into this whole mess! "Anyway, do you know Ace?" Buggy must have if he knew who Luffy was talking about.

"Yeah. Unlike _you_ , he was very polite when we first met. We had a wonderful party with him and after that we became drinking buddies. So I feel very sorry for what happened to him," Buggy confessed, crossing his arms over his chest as he gave a sigh. "The Navy was foolish to mess with Whitebeard's crew."

So Ace and Buggy knew each other, who would have thought! "I wanna get to level five since that's where Ace is, right?" Luffy asked, trying to reconfirm what the other prisoners had told him.

"I don't know! Go by yourself, I'm not your friend!" Buggy yelled, his spittle hitting Luffy's face as he did. "I'm not going to that hell hole, so see yah! Hmph, if you're not willing to escape, I'll do it on my own," Buggy said as he walked away.

Luffy watch him leave as his stomach churned. He could really use Buggy's help to get to level five, after all, Buggy had been here for who knows how long, so he _had_ to know where it was!

"There's ten or more Navy ships out there. Are you sure you can make it?" Luffy asked, hoping Buggy would back out after knowing this new information.

It almost looked like it had work when Buggy halted. "Ten or more?" he repeated, turning his head to look back at Luffy. "Oh, I get it. They must be preparing for an attack from Whitebeard!"

As Buggy continued to talk to himself, Luffy's face contorted into a frown as he glanced around. If Buggy wouldn't help then what should he do?

"I guess I'll just have to ask somebody else. Alright then, good luck with your escape!" Luffy said with a wave as he turned to head down the hallway.

"Wait a minute, Straw Hat!" Buggy screamed as he threw his upper body around Luffy's neck. Due to the sudden force, the two pirates went tumbling into the metal railing that separated them from the next floor below.

"What're _you—_ " Luffy growled, as he tried to pry Buggy off of him when he was cut off by the sudden appearance of guards, humans this time.

"There he is!" the two guards yelled, shooting up at the pair of pirates, narrowly hitting Buggy and Luffy. "Up there!"

"They found me!" Buggy screamed as Luffy ran, dodging the bullets as they came shooting past. He never knew when he might encounter seastone bullets so he found that it was best to avoid them all.

"Why did you have to yell!?" Luffy snapped up Buggy, who was clinging to Luffy's left arm where he had placed the armlet Nami had let him have.

"H-hey, that's a beautiful armlet, can I have it?" Buggy asked, his eyes locked onto it.

 _Seriously?_ "Why're you so interested all of a sudden?! This was a gift from Nami!" Luffy yelled back, his voice echoing along with the bullet fire.

It was so rare for his berry-hungry navigator to give something for free and Luffy didn't like how Buggy was looking at his gift.

Buggy simply smirked at Luffy's question. "I'll tell you where Ace is."

Hearing this, Luffy immediately stopped running. If Buggy could tell him where his brother was, he'd give the pirate anything! That is, _if_ the other pirate told the truth.

"Really?" Luffy asked with a tight frown. If Buggy didn't keep up his end of the bargain than Luffy would be out of a gift as well as his chance at locating Ace quickly. Could he really trust him?

Buggy nodded. "Yes! If you give it to me."

Hearing this, Luffy couldn't help but smile. "If that's the case," Luffy began, holding out his arm. "Then you can have it."

It was just a little trinket, something that mattered far less than Ace did. So if giving it to Buggy helped Luffy find Ace, he'd gladly part from it and if Buggy tried to double cross him, Luffy would just beat him up!

"Yeah! Let's lose our enemies!" Buggy cheered as he waved his arms. After reattaching the rest of his body, the devil fruit user pulled his body away from his feet so that the majority of him floated in the air. "Hang onto my feet!"

"Your feet!?" Luffy asked, startled when the body parts in question jumped into his arms.

"Let's run, Straw Hat!" Buggy cried, as he zoomed through the air. "Don't drop those either! Run as fast as you can and I'll lead you to the entrance to level two!"

Running as fast as his rubber legs could carry him, Luffy followed after Buggy through the endless maze of stone hallways. The sounds of gunfire could still be heard so the guards had to be close behind.

"Level two? Aren't you listening? I wanna go to level five!" Luffy yelled up to Buggy, and people said that _he_ was the dumb one!

"Listen to me, Straw Hat! You can't just go straight down to level five! There are five levels and you have to go down each one, encountering even more vicious prisoners and guards as you do!" Buggy elaborated, floating back down to Luffy's eye level. "I've only ever been down to level four to be tortured by fire, so I don't know about the floors below. But, level five holds the extraordinary criminals with bounties of hundreds of millions or more!"

As Buggy continued to explain how there might even be more floors after level five, the Blugori reappeared and took chase after them. Though, the two pirates simply continued their conversation instead of confronting the beasts.

"If I had to guess, I'd say that's where Ace has to be. Anyway, I can only take you to level four!" Buggy finished explaining, to which Luffy smiled. Buggy wasn't all that bad if was actually keeping his word!

"Alright! Suddenly you're not such a bad guy!"

"Yeah, because you said you'd give me the armlet that will tell me where Captain John's treasure is!" Buggy revealed without thinking, his face paling to an alarming shade of white.

 _Captain John's treasure huh?_ "You're a pretty crappy pirate to have been caught!" Luffy jeered with a smile.

"Shut up! Leave me alone!" Buggy snapped back before flying off again.

Sparing a glance down towards his arm, Luffy examined the black and blue band. "I didn't know that this armlet functions as a treasure map! I had no clue at all!" Luffy confessed as Buggy began to freak out again.

"Dammit! You _were_ paying attention! Then I have no choice—"

"Alright then, you can have it now!" Luffy said, holding out the armlet for Buggy to grab. Luffy didn't care if this armband was a treasure map. He'd give up a thousand treasures if it meant he could save Ace!

Buggy could only stare at the treasure map in shock. "You know it's a treasure map but you're _still_ going to give it to me?"

Luffy nodded, wasn't it obvious? "Yeah! Rescuing Ace is more important to me!"

Buggy visibly struggled to find the words as Luffy's ever-trusting smile shined up at him. "A-and don't you think that I might just take off with it if you give it to me now!?"

Luffy shook his head, a smile still stretched across his face. "No, because you gave your word that you'd lead me to Ace!" Luffy said as Buggy burst into tears before taking the armband from Luffy's outstretched hand.

It was after this that Buggy suddenly slammed _hard_ into one of the stone walls that was in front of them.

"Oh! Is it faster to bust through the wall? I got it!" Luffy yelled, throwing an open fist at Buggy's chest, blasting him straight through the wall and into the other side.

Ignoring the startled jailers, Luffy continued to charge forward, busting through the next wall with the help of Buggy's body.

Unfortunately, there _wasn't_ another room after. Instead, the two of them began to plummet _fast_ down towards a rather strange sight.

"What the hell is this!? Why is there a forest in a prison!?" Luffy yelled as the wind rushed past. All the trees were this horrible red color and shined as if they were metal. Forest weren't suppose to be like this! "It's a crimson forest, there are so many people in here!"

"They're prisoners! This isn't just a forest, this is level one, the Crimson Hell!" Buggy explained as they continued to fall towards it.

Luffy couldn't help but shudder as Buggy started to elaborate on the kinds of torture prisoners had to endure on this level. "This really is hell! Is . . . this the kind of thing they're doing to _Ace_?" Luffy asked hesitantly, not quite wanting to know the answer.

"Yes! Now let's keep falling!" Luffy wanted to ask more about what was all done to his brother, but Buggy ignored him.

"Why!? We're just going to get cut!"

Buggy only smirked at Luffy's comment. "I'm not going to get cut! Just shut up and hang on!" Buggy ordered as his maneuvered them so that Luffy was hanging onto his back before he spread out his arms.

"Straw Hat, throw my feet on the ground!"

"Your feet!?" Luffy asked, eyeing the two appendages that were still tucked in his arms. "Ah, okay!"

Listening to Buggy's order Luffy threw the feet towards the ground where they landed safely.

Even though they were now flying instead of falling, thanks to the circumstances of Buggy's devil fruit power, Luffy still couldn't shake his nervousness about being around all these spikes.

Luffy was immune to _punches_ , not things sharp as knives! "Ugh, watch out!" Luffy warned, cringing away from the blood red spikes.

Buggy laughed at Luffy's visible discomfort. "Once I get my feet on the ground, it's a piece of cake! We don't need to use the stairs now to go down from this floor," Buggy began, steadily flying through the forest. "I just remembered there's another way to escape the agony of the Crimson Hell!"

"There's a way out of this hell!?" Luffy asked incredulously as they neared an open clearing.

In the center of the grass red spikes was a deep looking hole. Flying towards it, Buggy hovered by its edge. "Look, this is it!" Buggy said as he reattached with his feet.

"It's a hole!" Peering down it's endlessly dark depths, Luffy gasped in amazement. "Wow! It's as dark as night!"

"This _is_ the way out, but nobody wants to escape from here." Throwing his head back, Buggy chortled. "Do you know why, Straw Hat? Because this hole is connected to level two, which is an even more terrifying hell!"

"Well, this is good for us! We can just jump down from here!"

"Yeah, but down below there's—NO, wait! _Hey_!" Buggy yelled as Luffy ignored him and jumped off his back, falling into the hole and the unknown world that awaited.


	4. A Beastly Hell

**I believe I should explain something before you read further. The purpose of this story, other than to simply _save_ Ace, was to show how little changes can effect how something plays out. **

**That is why instead of simply jumping ahead to the exciting parts of the battle at Marineford, I'm writing what happened in Impel Down, because I've altered certain things. These changes will significantly alter how both Impel Down and Marineford play out.**

 **I understand that it can be a tad repetitive reading something like this, but I promise things will be picking up here in a couple chapters. By no means do I intend to write everything that happened in canon. However, if you cannot wait for that, then perhaps this story isn't for you.**

 **Chapter summary: Luffy learns that appearances aren't everything, even in hell.**

* * *

Luffy wasn't able to make out anything through the darkness as he fell. It seemed to continue on forever with not even a single hint as to where, or when, it might end.

"Wow, it's deep! I wonder what's down there!" As he continued to fall, all Luffy could hear were Buggy's cries and the sound of the wind rushing past his ears. Just how far did this thing go?

When Luffy finally landed, the sounds of animalistic growls accosted his ears as he observed the new area. Unlike the Crimson Hell, level two was made entirely out of stone. Barred cells lined the hallways and all together it had a very dark and eerie feel to it, almost as if something was lurking in it's quiet halls.

Turning towards the sound of a body slamming harshly against the floor, Luffy's face broke out into a smile.

Buggy! Stretching out his arm, Luffy grabbed onto his guide's blue pony tail before pulling Buggy's head into the crook of his arm.

"Okay, let's go. Just tell me the way!" Luffy said as he ran down one of the many passageways, not bothering to check and see if the rest of Buggy's body was following him.

"Wait a second!" Buggy wailed but Luffy ignored him in favor of continuing his quest for finding the entrance into the next level of Impel Down. However, because Buggy still had yet to tell Luffy exactly where to go, it wasn't much of a surprise when they ended up at a dead end a few minutes later.

"It's a dead end," Luffy grumbled as he observed his new surroundings. "So, this is level two huh?"

"Yes, it's worse than the Crimson Hell of level one! It's called the Wild Beast Hell," Buggy explained as struggled to regain his breath. "You bastard! You had me running around like an idiot! This floor has the wild beasts of hell everywhere!"

Luffy tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Wild beasts of hell? Is that one of them?" Luffy asked, pointing to the small, purple hippo that stood a few feet in behind them. It sure didn't look like a wild beast from hell. Shouldn't it be more scary looking?

"Eh! They found us already!" Buggy screeched before his eyes landed on the admittedly cute hippo.

"It looks like a normal hippo to me," Luffy said as the animal opened its mouth. Luffy had encountered fiercer beasts back home in East Blue!

"Um, yeah," Buggy added rather lamely.

"It's smaller than a regular hippo too. Is that what you'd call a 'wild beast'?" Luffy asked as Buggy began walking hesitantly towards it.

"It's really strange. I heard that level two was—AUGH! What is this thing! RUN!" Buggy screamed as the hippo's mouth suddenly expanded and chomped onto Buggy's undefended body, taking the majority of the pirates torso into its large, purple mouth.

Taking Buggy's advice, Luffy ran while what was remaining of Buggy's body trailed on next to him as the hippo chased after. "Wow! He's pretty fast for a hippo!" Luffy complemented as the hippo gained speed.

"Stop admiring it! Turn left!" With a quick work of their feet, Buggy and Luffy successfully turned into the next hallway.

Unable to stop, the hippo crashed into the awaiting wall. "Hah! He crashed into it! He runs pretty fast but he can only run in a straight line!" Buggy sneered but was proven slightly wrong when suddenly the same hippo came flying towards them.

It might not be able to make sharp turns but that sure didn't mean it couldn't catch up when it crashed.

Dodging the incoming hippo, the pair continued to run. "So, you really don't mind that your body got eaten?" Luffy asked, staring at Buggy's floating head. It must suck to only have a head.

"You'll see! I'm the Chop-Chop man, Lord Buggy!" Buggy said just as the hippo came tumbling after them.

Dodging the now rolling hippo, Buggy and Luffy jumped out its way and watched as the purple animal suddenly crashed head first into another wall.

Now unconscious, the hippo's mouth fell open, thus releasing Buggy's trapped body. "How did you manage that?" Luffy asked as Buggy reattached himself.

"Hahaha! Even if my body parts are chopped into pieces, I can move them as much as I want!" Buggy laughed as he threw his head back. "That'll teach ya, you little hippo!"

"Alright, now let's get going!" Luffy ordered, turning to run. Following Luffy's lead, Buggy followed close behind the young pirate captain.

Suddenly a strange sound caught Buggy's attention and he stopped in his tracks. "What's wrong?" Luffy asked, turning to look back at Buggy in confusion.

"I think I heard something," Buggy whispered back as Luffy turned away, trying to locate the source of the sound.

"A bat, maybe?" Suddenly, far too quick for Buggy to dodge, a huge bug fell from the ceiling and with a quick flick of it's arm, sliced Buggy into pieces!

"GAH! It's a monster mantis!" Buggy yelled as he put his body back together over by Luffy after he ran away from the beast.

Luffy nodded as he examined the bug. "Yeah, it's too big to be a normal mantis," Luffy added as it came charging at them with its serrated arms. "He cuts like a pro!" Luffy complemented as they dodged it's blades, unable to help himself from imagining how his first mate, Zoro fought.

To think it had been only about eleven days since he had last seen the green-haired swordsman fight. It reminded Luffy just how much he missed him and the rest of his crew mates. After all, he had gotten so used to being with them everyday and to suddenly be apart for so long . . . it made Luffy realize just how lonely he was without them.

It made him wonder what Ace might feel after being away from his own crew for as long as he had. Did he too feel the intense loneliness that Luffy felt? Surely he must have, because the Whitebeard's had to have been special enough for Ace to miss them since they had been able to earn Ace's trust and a place in his heart.

As Ace's sworn brother, Luffy knew too well how hard it was to break down the walls Ace had surrounded himself with. So, if they had managed it, Luffy was sure that being apart from them had to have been killing Ace just as much as being away from his own crew was hurting Luffy.

The knowledge of this only strengthened Luffy's resolve to save his brother that much sooner so that they both would have the chance to see their friends again.

"How can you be so impressed! If I get chopped up anymore, it's going to be a huge problem!" Buggy growled, snapping Luffy out of his wandering thoughts and back to the situation at hand.

"You're an amazing fighter!" Luffy praised, unable to deny how skilled the mantis was. if Zoro were there, Luffy was sure that he too would think the same.

Hearing the compliment seemed to only goad the monster into showing off as it swung it's arms, cutting everything it touched until it slammed them into the hard stone floor—

"—Do you think he's stuck?" Luffy asked, pointing at the obviously disgruntled bug as he turned to face Buggy.

The older pirate nodded. "Yeah."

"What should we do?"

"Maybe we should. . . ."

"Wanna just go?" Luffy asked, already walking away.

"Yeah, let's just go," Buggy agreed, following Luffy's lead.

Placing his arms behind his head, Luffy continued to walk calmly away from the stuck mantis. Maybe it wasn't such an awesome fighter after all. "Are these really wild beasts of hell? They're not that big of a deal," Luffy muttered.

So far they had just been either really small or really big versions of their normal-sized counterparts.

Even with their somewhat impressive techniques, they didn't quite fit the image of a beast from hell. Though, he was kinda grateful for this, it was making it much easier to make it through this floor.

"Yeah, they're not as bad as I heard that they were. Level one was more terrifying than this," Buggy scoffed, walking along side of Luffy. "Well, if you think about it, wild beasts of hell can really only exist in—" Startled by the sudden strong gust of wind, Buggy halted.

"What was that?" Luffy asked once the wind had blown past.

"GAH!" Buggy screeched, a cold sweat suddenly pouring off of his tense body.

"What's the matter?" Turning around, Luffy's heart nearly jumped out of his chest at the monstrous looming figure that peered down at them.

It's glowing yellow eyes pierced through the darkness of level two as sharply as it's long, serrated teeth might, and suddenly, level one didn't look so bad after all.

"IT'S A WILD BEAST FROM HELL!" Buggy and Luffy screamed, tears streaming down their faces as fear consumed them. A hungry hippo had been troublesome, but it paled in comparison to this beast!

Screaming like they were two chickens who were about to get their heads chopped off, the two pirates ran from an actual giant chicken.

"Damn it! What I heard was true after all!" Buggy cried as the wind blew at his flawless blue hair. "We're gonna get eaten this time for sure! Even though I tried to escape without you!"

It was so hard for Luffy to hear Buggy's complaints with the loud stomps of the monster chicken that was snapping right at their heals. "What did you say!?" Luffy asked as he tried to run faster. "Do you know what this thing is!?"

"I think it's the most rare kind of mutant; a snake hatched from a chicken egg, a basilisk!" Buggy shouted as they turned into another hallway.

"This thing comes from a chicken!? You have to be joking!" Luffy screeched, taking a quick glance back as they got slightly ahead of the mutant chicken.

It couldn't be true! This monster couldn't actually be the delectable bird that he often ate for lunch!

"That's why they call it a monster! If it's allowed to roam free, it'd eat everybody! So they live here as a guard!" Buggy yelled just as the beast lunged at them, trying to devour the pair with its sharp teeth.

As they dodged and maneuvered through the endless maze, Buggy and Luffy ran through a small hallway as the beast followed close behind them.

Since it was too large to fit through the human sized opening, it's hideous green head got stuck. Seeing the opportunity to get rid of this nuisance, Luffy halted in his steps.

Turning around, Luffy raised his fist, readying for an attack. "I don't have time for this you stupid chicken! Gear third! " Biting into his thumb, Luffy blew in as much air as he could, enlarging his arm and fist ten-fold! "Gum-Gum, Giant-Pistol!" With a swing from his giant fist, Luffy sent the basilisk flying and straight into the wall in front of him.

With a booming crash, the monstrous beast blasted through the wall, knocking out the jailers inside before it passed out in a crumbled heap of stone and debris. Smoke from the debris coated the air clouded the area so that it was almost impossible for a person to see in front of them, not that Luffy cared. He had managed to beat the basilisk!

"Yatta!" Luffy squeaked, having shrunk down to a shockingly small size. Now that that was out of the way, he could finally continue on his mission!

"His fist became huge," Buggy mumbled as he glanced down to where Luffy stood. "W-why are you so small now!?"

It took a moment for Luffy to answer as he continued to gasp for breath as sweat dribbled down his now smaller forehead. "It's 'cause of Gear Third," Luffy explained before suddenly turning back into his normal size. "Yosh, I'm back to normal!" Luffy cheered, through he was still having trouble breathing. Gear Third took a lot out of him.

Buggy face contorted in surprise at the sight. "EH!"

Ignoring Buggy's surprise, Luffy frowned at him. Surely he had seen stranger things than that? After all, Buggy could separate his own body parts at will! "Let's go now!" Luffy snapped, but he was then ignored when the prisoners of level two began to sing their praise.

"Thank you!"

"We can finally escape!" they sang, rattling the bars of their cells. "All we need now are the keys!"

"Come on, let's keep going," Luffy said sternly, annoyed by all of the prisoners. He had only come there to save one prisoner and that was Ace. He couldn't care less about these people; they had nothing to do with him.

Besides, they were prisoners in a prison, surely some of them must have deserved to be there?

Turning around, Buggy held up his hands, a shit-eating grin stretched across his tattooed face. "Don't rush!"

"I don't have time!" Luffy snapped as he ground his teeth and flailed his arms. He was wasting so much time thanks to Buggy, he couldn't stand here and waste anymore! Not when Ace needed him!

"Calm down. Just let me help them and then we can go, I promise," Buggy bargained, as he walked over to the keys that were lying innocently on the ground.

"Fine, but you better hurry!" Luffy pouted, crossing his arms over his thin chest as he glared at Buggy. Like it or not, Luffy did need his help to get to level four.

Still, that didn't mean that he wasn't incredibly annoyed as Buggy riled up the prisoners, making them yell and praise him. It was really hurting his ears and even after Buggy finally released them from their cells, they were still loud!

Alright, that's enough!

Latching an arm around Buggy who stood in the mass of prisoners, Luffy pulled him away as he began to run forward. "There, are you happy? Now it's time for you to lead me again!" Luffy said as Buggy struggled in his grasp. "Is there another hole like last time?"

"I don't know the way to level three! How could I remember all the floors of the maze-like prison!?" Buggy yelled as he bounced through the air. "UGH! Stop, Straw Hat!"

"Why should I!? You promised that you'd take me to level four!"

"I lied, I lied!" Buggy confessed. "I wanted the armlet so I lied to you!"

Lied!? Luffy's blood boiled at the word. Coming to an abrupt stop, the enraged rubber captain slammed Buggy onto the ground as his hand tightened it's grip on Buggy's shirt. "You lied to me!?" Buggy only laughed obnoxiously at the question.

Just as Luffy was about to snap back at him, the hoard of prisoners that Buggy had released only a few minutes ago suddenly came running at them, screaming as though they were about to die.

Unable to move out of the way, Buggy and Luffy were swept up into the crowd until they were pushed back towards the direction of the cells.

Scrambling inside, the prisoners stumbled over one another before every last one of them were safely back inside their, until now, hated cells. What the hell!?

"What're you doing!? It's your chance to finally break out of this hell!" Buggy yelled, stomping his feet like an overgrown child having a temper tantrum.

"We just remembered that there's no way to escape if the boss of this floor is still here!" Hearing this, Buggy paled to an alarming shade of white.

"O-okay, Straw Hat! I'll lead you to level three!" Grinding his teeth, Luffy glared at the clown-faced pirate. How was he supposed to trust this guy when he had been lying to Luffy this whole time!

"You just said that you don't know the way, BIG NOSE!" Luffy snapped at Buggy. For all he knew, Buggy could have been leading him to nowhere! He was pissed!

"What did you just call me!?" Buggy snarled right back.

Just as the two pirates were about to fight, a new voice joined the fray, interrupting them. "If you're having trouble on this floor, I can help you." Stepping forward, a prisoner with strangely shaped hair stood proudly outside of his cell with a smirk on his face. "Long time no see, Straw Hat."

Luffy tilted his head to the side as he examined the strange haired prisoner. "Who are you?" With a sigh, the prisoner fixed his hair so that the three was completely visible. "Oh, that's three! That means . . . you're San!" Luffy exclaimed, remembering back to the months before with Vivi and the island of giants.

"NO! I'm Mr. Three!"

"Oh," Luffy stated lamely, eyeing the wax between Mr. Three's hands. "So, what do you want?"

"You freed me, so I'll help you get off this floor. After all, I always pay my debts," Mr. Three explained.

"Really! That would be great!" Luffy thanked, his mouth breaking into a large grin. He'd finally have someone who wasn't a dirty liar to help him get to Ace! "Just lead the way!"

With a nod, Mr. Three made his way closer when suddenly they could hear the sounds of vicious animals running towards them.

Turning around, the three pirates screamed at the large horde of beasts stampeding towards them. Some of them they recognized, like the mantis and the hippo, but the others they didn't. However, they sure as hell didn't want to find out!

Running as fast as they could, Luffy, Buggy, and now Mr. Three bolted. Luffy was getting so sick of all this running!

Every time he turned a corner there would be another enemy and he couldn't keep running forever! It was time to fight!

"I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" Luffy roared. Pulling back his first, Luffy punched at the group of monsters as Buggy and Mr. Three gave their own attacks while he did.

However, all it did was cause the beasts to multiply!

The chase was back on and each one of them was getting tired, so like the saying goes, if you can't beat them, trick them!

Listening to Buggy's Number One Noise Trick, Luffy along with Mr. Three and Buggy hid while the clown pirate sent his feet off to trick the monsters. Thankfully, the plan worked, and the monsters ran off and away from them!

"I told you they'd be fooled by my footstep trick!" Buggy laughed, filled with pride. Until his shoes came flying into his face.

"They found us, stupid!" Luffy yelled as they began to run away, yet again. Well, if they were going to keep running, then they should at least be heading towards level three then! "Hey, you said you're going to help us, right?" Luffy asked as he looked at Mr. Three.

"Of course! Let's join forces and break out of this prison!" Mr. Three cheered as the manticores continued to yell their meaningless nonsense.

"Where can we get down to level three!?" Luffy asked, ignoring how Mr. Three had just said escape.

Mr. Three's steps stumbled as he turned to face Luffy. "HUH!? Don't you wanna break out!"

Buggy groaned as he jumped in front of Mr. Three and Luffy. Shaking his head, Buggy gave an annoyed sigh. "Straw Hat came here to save his brother, Ace."

"Brother!? Fire Fist Ace is your brother!" Mr. Three exclaimed as he looked at Luffy's pained face to reconfirm, "and you're here to rescue him!?"

Luffy gave a small nod in reply.

At the mention of Ace, all of these nameless emotions bubbled up inside of him and it became even harder to breathe.

He needed to get to Ace now! He wanted to see his beloved big brother again, wanted to see that he was okay. He wanted— needed —to make sure that Ace hadn't broken his promise with him.

Luffy would make absolute sure that he wouldn't break his promise. Ace would not die! However, that might happen if Mr. Three kept trying to make them escape with him.

Pulling the screaming man back off of the stairs, Luffy's face was fierce even as he began to plead with the pirate.

"Please! At least tell me where the stairs that go down are!" Luffy begged, keeping a firm grasp on the back of Mr. Three's ratty prison shirt. He couldn't let him go just yet! Not when he was so close to finally reaching his brother!

"All right, Straw Hat! Let's go together." Surprised by the sudden change in attitude, Luffy lifted an eyebrow before shaking his head. As long as Mr. Three helped him, he really didn't care why the prisoner had decided to change his mind.

Now with Mr. Three leading the way, the trio of pirates headed down the stone stairway. As they traveled down, Luffy couldn't help the feeling of nervousness that churned in his belly. Each floor of Impel Down was proving harder than the last and bringing about new challenges that continued to slow Luffy down.

It made him wonder just what else he would have to face until he could finally reach Ace. Reaching the last step, a gigantic, grayish-purple mass abruptly blocked their path and seemed to be his answer.

Eyes bulging at the sight, Luffy took in the huge feathered beast. It had a scarred human face, the body of a lion, and the wings of a bird! What kind of monster was this!?

"It's the guardian of the stairs, the Sphinx!" Mr. Three shrieked in fear, cowering before it.

"THIN NOODLE," it roared, it's sound dull but drowning. "CHINESE DOODLE!" With a mighty swing of it's gigantic paw, the Sphinx began to attack Luffy and his two companions.

Dodging the paw, the three of them scattered to try and avoid the lion-man beast while it roared noodle names the whole time they did.

What was with these beasts and weird sayings!? The lions couldn't stop talking about underwear and the Sphinx was going on and on about pasta!

Dammit! Luffy cursed to himself, all this talk of food was getting him hungry. "Ugh, I wanna eat Sanji's food now! I haven't had it in so long!" Luffy whined as his stomach rumbled.

This isn't time to be thinking about food! Snapping out of his food daze, Luffy jumped away from the Sphinx. It was time he ended this!

It would take a lot to take down the giant Sphinx, so there was really only one reasonable move to use.

Stretching out his arms, Luffy sling-shotted himself so that he was above the Sphinx's giant head. Biting into his thumb, Luffy blew air into it.

"Gum-Gum, Giant-Gatling Gun!" Slamming his huge fist into the Sphinx's head, the beast slammed hard into the floor, having successfully been knocked unconscious.

"Yosh!" Luffy squeaked as he shrunk down and landed on the Sphinx's bruised head. That's when he heard the floor give a loud, ominous creak and suddenly, the floor was gone.


	5. Finding a Friend

**Chapter summary: Luffy meets a few familiar faces.**

* * *

As he finally came to, the first thing Luffy registered was heat; intense and unforgiving as it surrounded him. Opening his eyes with a groan, the rubber teen hissed at the sudden assault of sunlight and shielded his eyes away to reduce the burn.

Holding a hand to his face, Luffy blinked as he took in the vast desert that now surrounded him. It was a surprising and rather unexpected change considering he had just been in level two, which had been made almost entirely out of stone.

This must be level three. Luffy thought to himself as he jumped from the unconscious Sphinx's large body to where his companions were slowly coming to.  
However, Luffy wasn't expecting the pain he would feel once his feet landed on the scorching sand.

Giving a yelp, Luffy hopped on each foot, trying to reduce the pain he was feeling. "OW!" he cried, pulling his leg up to blow air onto his sand-covered feet. "This floor is like a frying pan!"

It had to be for how hot it was! Which, it appeared that Buggy and Mr. Three might have held similar opinions as they reacted as Luffy had, trying to protect their limbs from this harsh environment.

"Level three!" the clown-faced pirate groaned as he took cover with Luffy and Mr. Three under the small bit of shade that the Sphinx's large body provided. "I never wanted to come here!"

"Make that two of us," Mr. Three added weakly, the heat obviously affecting him the most as his body physically drooped, nearly melting like wax.

Ever the optimist, Luffy smiled at the two. "Well, we're here now so we should just make our way down to level four," Luffy said as he turned to look at Mr. Three. "So, where are the stairs?"

Lifting his head slightly, Mr. Three stared out into the seemingly endless expanse of sand. "I don't know," he muttered before falling onto his face. It looked like he wouldn't last much longer.

Well that wouldn't do. Luffy needed Mr. Three to help him make it to level four, so they needed to start moving before the man melted completely.

"Well, we won't find it by just sitting here, let's go." Placing his hat back onto his head, Luffy grabbed his two companions before stepping back into the burning light and heat of level three.

As they trudged their way slowly through the dense layers of sand and hopefully towards a way out of this hellish level, all three pirates panted harshly. With such intense heat, it was incredibly difficult for them to scrounge up enough energy to even move their heavy limbs; each of them exhausted and parched.

For Luffy, while he was no stranger to the harsh life of the desert, it was still hard for him to be there. As a rubber man, intense heats tended to make his mind feel like mush and his stretchy body unstable.

Top that off with him already dying of thirst and having felt the beginnings of hunger, he wouldn't be surprised if he started to get delirious like he did back in Alabasta. Of course, eating strange cactus probably didn't help matters either during his first time in a desert.

To his credit, how was he supposed to know? Back then, Luffy had no idea what the desert climate would be like, nor what he would be facing there. Vivi hadn't exactly told them much about the land she grew up in until the threat had already been facing them.

To be fair though, all he cared about at the time was kicking Crocodile's sandy ass. He couldn't have cared less about what else the journey entailed, like what fruit and animals he should have avoided.

Though, never in his wildest dreams had he expected to meet Ace again in Vivi's country.

When Luffy had first laid eyes on his brother after three, unbearably long years without him, the young captain had been at a loss for words when he saw just how much Ace had changed. Sure, Ace had always been stronger than Luffy and had this cool air about him, but it had been different somehow.

Obviously, just like Luffy, Ace himself had grown stronger in those three years apart. Eating a logia devil fruit simply does that to a person.

More than that though, Ace seemed wiser and a lot more mature. He walked with his head held high and his tattooed back displayed in pride and Luffy couldn't have been happier for Ace.

After all, Luffy remember the person Ace had been as a child; hateful and angry at the world with a very low view about himself. To see him then, full of pride, courage, and self-esteem, Luffy had almost cried.

It had felt so wonderful to know that the man he had always thought the world of was finally seeing himself as someone who deserved to live and was able to be happy that he had found himself a place in this world; it's all Luffy wanted for him.

Still, that didn't mean that Luffy hadn't been surprised when he found out that Ace, who had always been determined to be his own captain, would instead join another captain's crew.

Yet, after hearing Ace praise the man that he called father and about his beloved nakama, Luffy understood why Ace had joined.

After all, Luffy was no fool. He knew that all Ace had wanted in this life was a family who would accept and love him for who he was and not treat him how others believed he should be.

Sure, at the time when they were just children, Luffy, Sabo, and the even the bandits had been Ace's family but they weren't always going to be with one another. Also, while Luffy had helped show Ace that it was okay that he was alive, Luffy knew that he and Sabo had never fully helped heal Ace of the pain and doubt his father's blood had left behind.

The Whitebeard's however, offered Ace a place to call home and made him feel like he was actually worth something. They could always be by Ace's side as they were his fellow crewmates and his family. As such, they had helped Ace through his hatred and self-doubt and gave him the acceptance he craved. From what Ace had told Luffy, Whitebeard hadn't cared that Ace was Gol D. Rogers son and instead thought of him as his own.

If Luffy was being honest with himself, he had been kinda jealous of Whitebeard and his crew for holding such a special place in his brother's heart. However, Luffy knew that it would only be selfish of him to want Ace to only have him to call family.

Though, that didn't stop him from asking if Ace would join his crew instead. It had least been worth a shot if it meant Ace could be in his life again.

If it meant that they could go on adventures together and help make each other stronger.

If it meant that Luffy could have part of his soul with him once more.

Had Luffy know what would befall Ace after leaving him in Alabasta, Luffy would have never let Ace leave his side. He would have stayed with Ace if doing so would have prevented the logia user from being captured and on his way to be executed.

Hell, the truth was that even if Luffy staying with Ace wouldn't have stopped what was happening now, he probably would still have stayed by his brother's side.  
After all, loving someone the way Luffy loved Ace often blurred the lines of common sense.

Shaking his head to clear his wandering thoughts, Luffy panted as he tugged at his drenched blue tank top, pulling it away from his sweat-covered chest. This damn heat was getting to him.

"Argh! Do you guys see the stairs yet?" Luffy huffed.

"What do you think, Straw Hat!? You really think if we saw the stairs by now we'd still be standing here?" Buggy snapped, turning his flushed face back towards Luffy.

Shrugging his shoulders, Luffy continued to walk. "I don't know, you are pretty stupid."

"WHAT!" Buggy screeched, reaching to grab the rubber pirate. "That's rich coming from you!"

Stopping in his tracks, Luffy glared as he faced Buggy. "What the hell is that supposed to mean!?"

"It means that you—"

"Hey, I think I see something," Mr. Three interrupted, catching their attention.

Turning to where the wax man was pointing, Luffy squinted his eyes as he started to make out what Mr. Three was seeing. It looked like some more prison cells!

Finally they were getting somewhere! With a cheer, both Luffy and Buggy charged forward, leaving the weak Mr. Three behind to catch up with them.

Reaching the jail cells, their excitement at the possibility of shade and information quickly plummeted as they took in the sight of multiple shriveled up prisoners and deteriorating skeletons.

"Yikes!" Buggy hissed, eyeing the poor saps as Mr. Three finally rejoined them.

Regaining his breath, the wax man quietly explained how this level was known as the Starvation Hell and was where many prisoners died before dissolving into the sand that covered the floor, making it seem like a desert when in actuality it was thousands of broken-down corpses.

Shuddering at the thought, Luffy made the decision that it was about time that they get the hell out of there. Leaving the cells behind, the trio began to walk again in search for the stairs that would bring them closer to salvation.

Unfortunately, their sense of direction left a lot to be desired as they had walked all the way back to the Sphinx.

Giving a collective groan, the three of them collapsed next to the thankfully still unconscious beast.

"Dammit! I want to be on level four already!" Luffy cursed, letting his body fall onto the sand.

Being both hungry, thirsty, and dazed by heat, it was no wonder that they all were starting to get irritable.

Hearing this, Luffy's two companions turned to him. "I told you I'm not going!" Buggy and Mr. Three shouted together.

"Huh!? Since when!?" Luffy cried in confusion. "You two have to guide me! You said that we would save Ace together!"

"WE NEVER SAID THAT!"

Confused, irritated, and feeling a little betrayed, Luffy quickly stood. He didn't have time to argue over this. If they didn't want to keep their promise, then Luffy would just have to head to level four on his own.

"Fine, I'll just—GAH!" With a startled scream, Luffy, Buggy, Mr. Three, and even the Sphinx were suddenly trapped in a large net.

"Oh no! It's a trap, they got us!" Buggy yelled as Luffy struggled against the chain-like rope.

Not one to be deterred, Luffy bit at it as he tried to escape. He couldn't be trapped now! Not after he had made it this far!

"Dammit! I gotta rip up this net!" Luffy groaned, struggling against the seastone again. He could already begin to make out the troops of jailers that were getting closer and with them the possible end to Luffy's mission.

He needed to hurry up and escape but unfortunately, they had already reached the net before he could.

Now that they were closer, Luffy noticed a rather tiny man that stood in front of the guards. "Who're you?" he couldn't help but ask, curiosity winning out.

"I am Saldeath." (A/N: Pronounced 'Saru desu.' Literally means "I'm a monkey" in Japanese)

"Huh? But you don't look like a monkey," Luffy mumbled, quirking his eyebrow. Shouldn't he have fur and a tail if he was a monkey?

"You're not listening! I'm Saldeath," Saldeath repeated, glancing around. "Give up, you can't get away now that you've been caught by me. Humph, you're just lucky you were even caught by me, because there are four demon guards on the floors below this."

"Huh?" Luffy mumbled. This was the first time he had heard of such a thing.

Before Luffy could hear an explanation, the giant Sphinx finally chose this time to wake up from it's Luffy induced slumber.

Like most animals who were caught in a net, the large cat-like creature wasted no time in struggling against the chains that held it, as well as Buggy, Mr. Three, and Luffy captive.

"SPAGHETTI!" he cried, continuing to thrash around as Luffy gritted his teeth as he was pressed harshly against the chains. "DEEP FRIED NOODLE!" Suddenly, with a horrible screech, the net finally gave way, releasing all four of them.

Seeing his opportunity, Luffy wasted no time in attacking the Blugori as he tried to get away. However, where the hell were Mr. Three and Buggy? Noticing the two's absence, Luffy glanced around, trying to spot the two.

Looking up towards the large bridge that was above him, Luffy caught sight of his two companions. "Ah! There you two are! Where are you going!?" Luffy shouted, catching their attention.

"We're finally gonna leave this hellhole!" Buggy revealed.

"Yeah! So be good little bait for us, stupid!" Mr. Three added.

Blinking in surprise, Luffy couldn't help but frown at their betrayal. Oh well, they had just been about to split up when the trap was sprung so it wasn't much of a loss.  
"I was happy to that you both were alright but well . . . see yah!" Giving a small wave and a smile, Luffy turned his attention back onto the Blugori.

Outnumbered, Luffy knew that it would take a good bit of time to defeat all of them but it seemed that luck was on his side as the Sphinx began to attack the Blugori too, knocking them away with one sweep of its giant paw.

Seeing his chance, Luffy let the Sphinx take care of the rest of his enemies as he headed away and towards the buildings that he could finally make out in the distance.

Hopefully, the stairs to level four were somewhere over there!

When he finally reached the ruined buildings, Luffy cheered as he landed on a long set of stairs leading down. Wasting no time, Luffy started to run down them.  
However, at some point during his trek, Luffy had stopped going down them and was now going up!

Groaning, Luffy wiped the sweat off of his forehead, continuing to run even with this added development. "Maybe if I keep going, I'll start heading down at some point!"

With the sound of his sandals slap echoing in his ears, Luffy stumbled onward with his head down as exhaustion weighed on him.

He was hungry, not to mention incredibly tired, but he wasn't about to give up! After all, Ace was only two floors away! Startled from his muddled thoughts at the sudden sound of gunfire, Luffy gasped as he caught sight of human guards.

Seeing the oncoming nets, most likely made out of seastone like the larger net had, Luffy dodged as best he could while continuing on the stairs. Unfortunately, Luffy was far too disoriented and while he could manage dodging small nets well enough, he was far too tired to jump out of the way of the Sphinx's large paw.

Apparently, the beast had decided to follow him and the guards.

"Ugh!" Luffy groaned as the Sphinx pushed his body harder against the stone. If he hadn't been made out of rubber, Luffy was positive that he'd either be dead or severely injured.

Nevertheless, even as a rubber man, Luffy was too tired right now to wiggle his way free and was just beginning to think that maybe he had finally been caught when he caught sight of a person twirling their way towards him.

"Wait a minute, you lion!" Wait, Luffy knew that voice!

Glancing up, Luffy gasped! He was right! The man was unmistakable with that green hair. Zoro!

"I'm here to help you!" Zoro yelled with a large grin, though it wasn't quite as feral as it usually was.

Blinking up at him, Luffy's face broke into a large grin of his own as he took in the wonderful sight of his first mate. "ZORO!" Luffy cheered, watching in confused awe as Zoro jumped and began to twirl in the sky. Zoro never used to do that before, why now?

"Swan Arabesque!" With a loud cry, Zoro's foot came crashing down rather unforgivably onto the Sphinx's face, immediately knocking the poor beast out.

Running out from under the paw, Luffy couldn't help but feel super confused.

"Kwahaha!" The young pirate captain could hear as he tried to catch his breath. "Swan, swan!" Okay, that really wasn't Zoro.

Looking up, Luffy took in the spinning man. He sounded incredibly familiar but. . . .

"IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME, STRAWHAT-CHAN, IT'S ME!" the man cried, tears pouring down his face, and suddenly like a switch being turned on, Luffy remembered who he was!

"AHH! BON-CHAN!" Luffy cheered, taking in the sight of his dear friend. "I'm sad that you're not Zoro, but I'm glad that you're alive!"

When Luffy had last seen the lively okama, he had thought that the man and his crew had been killed trying to help him and his own nakama get away from the swarming Marines.

To see him alive and well after all this time was a dream come true!

However, now wasn't the time to reminisce when they still had enemies to defeat! Side by side, the two friends together took out the rest of the guards on this floor and even the Sphinx for the final time!

Standing proudly atop the beast's badly bruised head, the two pirates couldn't help but burst into happy tears as they finally got a good look at one another, it had been far too long!

"Hey, Bon-chan! I thought that you were dead after sacrificing yourself for us!"

"Gimme a break, okama never die!" Bon Clay cried as he laughed, holding Luffy in a tight embrace.

Pulling away, Luffy grinned happily as he wiped away his tears. "Shishishi! I guess they don't!"

Nodding, Bon Clay folded his arms across his chest as he looked down at Luffy. "By the way Straw-chan," he began, catching Luffy's attention. "I heard that you wanna get to level five."

Luffy nodded with a grin. "Yeah! Can you take me there?"

"Of course, and I'll go along with you too!" Bon Clay announced with a grin of his own. "There's actually someone that I wanna meet on level five!"

"Really!?" Luffy exclaimed, happy to have finally found someone who would actually take him where he wanted to go.

"Yes, now let's do this together!"

"Un!" Luffy nodded. "LET'S GO!"


	6. Danger Around Every Corner

**Thank you all to much for the follows and favorites! It really means a lot!**

 **Chapter summary: Luffy finally realizes just how much danger he truly is in.**

* * *

Running with his friend towards their desired destination, Luffy couldn't help the intense euphoria that consumed him.

He was just _so_ happy to finally have found someone he could trust to help him get to Ace, not like how Buggy and Mr. Three had been, lying and deceiving him. Those two probably had never intended to help Luffy in the first place!

Though, that obviously wasn't the case with Bon Clay who was now leading him to another stairway that would no doubt lead them to level four.

As they ran, the two caught up, explaining to the other briefly what had happened since they last saw one another. The talking helped Luffy forget, at least for the time being, the nagging fear that sat in the pit of his stomach.

The fear that he wouldn't reach Ace in time.

Shaking his head to clear his rapidly darkening thoughts, Luffy took a deep breath before pushing his legs to run faster. Once he was down in level five, maybe the fear and worry would finally settle.

They heard it long before they ever saw it. Halting in their steps, Luffy and Bon Clay watched as the looming figure approached. "S-Straw-chan, this isn't good!" Bon Clay said, his voice filled with fear as his body shook.

Gulping at seeing his friends own apprehension, Luffy tried to steel himself as the thing finally reached the top of the stairs, casting it's large shadow down onto them.

It was _huge,_ and both Luffy and Bon Clay were dwarfed in size by it. Nevertheless, its size did nothing to affect its speed as it suddenly came _charging_ at them.

Jumping out of the way, Luffy narrowly avoided getting hit by the creatures large mallet. "What is this thing!?" Luffy demanded as Bon Clay cowered behind him.

"It's the minotaurus!"

Luffy blinked in confusion. "Minotaurus?" he repeated as the thing straightened its back, what the hell was _that_ supposed to be?

Bon Clay nodded as Luffy took in the sight of the enormous beast. "They're cold-blooded demon guards! A monster that tosses people around like garbage! That's what it is!" Bon Clay hollered, shrinking back in fear.

The minotaurus had features of a large bull, but with that huge six-pack on his stomach, it had to be part human. "A monster? Is it a devil fruit user!?" Luffy asked as he continued to eye the strange creature. Perhaps it had a devil fruit similar to what Chopper had? If that was the case, maybe it could be reasoned with.

"How do I know!" Bon Clay snapped just as the monster swung its mallet again, slamming it into the side of Bon Clay's head with a sickening crack, sending him with crash into the seastone bars behind them, blood pooling from his wound and staining the ground.

"BON-CHAN!" Luffy screamed when suddenly the minotaurus was behind him. Startled by the monsters incredible speed, Luffy tried to dodge the huge club that the demon guard swung at him.

Though quick, while Luffy was able to dodge most of the blow, the mallet still ended up grazing the side of his head and was enough to draw blood and throw Luffy onto the ground. Rolling against the stone from the force of the attack, Luffy too crashed into the seastone bars just as the creature jumped at him again.

"WAIT JUST A FOUETTE!" Bon Clay roared as he flipped in the air, coming down with a strong kick to the minotaur's head.

Jumping out of the way, Luffy didn't even get the chance to regain his breath as he watched the minotaur grab onto Bon Clay's already injured head and slam him into the ground.

This demon guard was strong and _way_ too fast for Luffy to handle without the help of one of his gears.

He had no choice.

Switching into second gear, Luffy snarled at the monster as hot steam rose off of his body. " _Gum-Gum, Jet-Bazooka!"_ Luffy cried as he threw his arms, landing a direct it into the minotaur's muscled side.

Gasping, Luffy watched as the beast went flying, smashing into buildings as it did before it was completely out of sight. Canceling out his second gear, Luffy's legs wobbled dangerously before he let himself collapse onto the ground.

So far, he had used his physically draining moves _three_ times in a matter of only an hour or two. As such, it was no surprise to him that he was already beginning to feel the exhaustion from it all. No surprise at all. . . .

No matter, he had to keep going! Luffy would rest once Ace could do the same, not a _minute_ sooner.

"You alright, Bon-chan?" Luffy asked as he stumbled over to his friend, his body still reeling from both the demon guard's attack and the use of Second Gear. The dancer was currently having a harsh coughing fit, most likely because the minotaurus had had him in a choke hold only a few seconds before.

"I almost _died_!" Bon Clay whined as Luffy plopped his hat back onto his head. Bon Clay had to be fine if he was already complaining. A little bruised and a little battered, but fine all the same.

Ignoring his friends complaints about needing shoes and makeup, Luffy's stomach grumbled painfully. "Let's get going now! I'm hungry and thirsty!" Luffy groaned. All this fighting and the dry heat of level three were really wearing down on him.

"Don't rush, Straw-chan. It's actually too easy to go down to level four from here!" Bon Clay explained, suddenly filled with renewed vigor, forgetting all about his recent complaints.

"Really?" Bon Clay nodded.

"Yes, it's easy! Much too easy!" Bon Clay sung as he twirled before stopping to point up towards the wall in front of them. "There it is, Straw-chan!"

"Heh?" Looking up to one of the open windows, Luffy stared in confusion at it. _This is the way to level four?_

"All we have to do is climb this big wall!"

"All the way to the top?" Luffy clarified.

Bon Clay nodded again. "Yes! But watch your step!" Not _quite_ taking in the advice, Luffy simply stretched up his hand to grip onto the ledge, which he _immediately_ regretted.

"OW!" Luffy screeched as his hand burned. It felt like he had stuck his hand onto a hot frying pan, which he would know since he had done so before. He got hungry a lot and when he got hungry, impatience consumed him. As such, he often had tried stealing meat that Sanji would be in the process of grilling, resulting in a lot of burnt fingers. He couldn't help it though! Hunger was an evil thing that should be avoided at all cost! "What the hell!?"

While Luffy tried to cool down his now bright red hand, Bon Clay shook his head disapprovingly at him. "Are you alright, Straw-chan? Is your hand okay?"

Heaving a weary sigh, Luffy nodded, eyeing his wounded appendage. His attempt at cooling it down had worked for the most part but the angry redness was still there.

"Now, let's do this _together_ ," Bon Clay said as he and Luffy prepared to jump. "Here we go!" Landing on the ledge, Luffy's feet burned, even though he was wearing his sandals.

"Ouch!"

Walking forward towards the other side of the ledge, Bon Clay gestured Luffy forward, seemingly undeterred by the heat. "You should come look at this, Straw-Chan." Copying Bon-chan even though he was still slightly hesitant about the this new area, Luffy joined his friend at the ledge.

As soon as his head looked over, hot steam blew at his face, warming his already flushed cheeks. Looking up, Luffy saw that the room was covered in a dark red glow as a dense smoke billowed up and coated the humid air.

Trying to shield his face against it, Luffy backed up a few steps. "What's with all this smoke and hot air? It's hard to even just _stand_ in here!"

Bon Clay nodded in agreement. "RIght, but this is level four, the Burning Hell. This is where you wanted to go," Bon Clay said, waving a hand out towards the smoke and the nightmarish world beyond.

Stepping forward again, Luffy looked down towards where the smoke was coming from. "Burning Hell? Is it down there?" Luffy asked, licking his dry lips.

"Yes, it's like a giant iron pot. Once you go down there, you'll see a boiling pool of blood and a blazing sea of fire!" Bon Clay explained as they jumped down to the lower ledge.

It was hot, unbearably so, and sweat poured down Luffy's small rubber body as the heat surrounded him. Wiping away at the sweat that was forming on his brow, Luffy felt incredibly uncomfortable in this new level of hell, it was even worse than level three!

"We can jump down from here but if you land on the wrong spot, you'll be fried. You're gonna have to risk your life just to go further from now on!"

Hearing this warning didn't come as much of a surprise to Luffy. He was well aware of the risks in coming here to Impel Down and attempting to rescue his brother. Dying here was something he had been prepared for from the start.

Still, hearing this warning coming from a friend made everything more real to Luffy, so taking a deep breath, Luffy calmed his heart and straightened his shoulders. He was ready.

Ready to risk his life if it meant he was one step closer to saving Ace and giving him back the freedom he so rightfully deserved.

Ready to put everything on the line even if it was simply to see Ace _one_ last time. He'd do anything just to see Ace's enchanting freckles and his teasing grin again, even risk his own life. That's just how much Ace meant to him.

As his thoughts were overcome by the memories of his beloved big brother, a question suddenly dawned on Luffy.

While he understood his own reasoning for risky his life, he didn't understand why Bon-chan was willing to go so far. Why was _he_ doing all of this?

"Bon-chan? You said that there's someone that you wanna see. Who is it that you would risk your life for them?" Luffy asked quietly as Bon Clay smiled at the question.

"They call him the Miracle Worker. He was imprisoned here on a baseless charge. His name is Ivan-san!" Bon Clay cheered as his eyes practically filled with stars. "He's the Queen of KamaBakka Kingdom, the pink paradise of the grand line, everyone looks up to him!"

"The Queen of Okama?" Luffy repeated, trying to imagine them. "There's really a Queen of Okama!? Wow!"

"Yes, there is! I wanna see him even for just a little bit, and rescue him if I can!" Bon Clay admitted as he began to dance and twirl around.

Luffy was happy that his friend was so cheerful again but before he could ask more about Bon-chan's dedication to this supposed 'miracle worker', the sounds of hurried footsteps caught his attention. Glancing to the side where the rapidly approaching footsteps and screams were coming from, Luffy's eyes widened at what he saw. The minotaurus was back and look—

"—Mr. Three and Buggy!" Luffy cheered as he grinned, they wanted to help after all!

Following the two screaming pirates lead, Bon Clay and Luffy joined the pair in running away from the furious beast as they tried to avoid getting caught again by it. However, this savage monster was not to be taken lightly as it continued after them, right on the backs of their heels.

"You said you were going to break out!" Bon Clay yelled angrily in the direction of where Buggy and Mr. Three were running, obviously not as happy to see them like Luffy was.

"I knew you wanted to come with me!" Luffy grinned, laughing as Buggy began to scream at him.

"No one wants to follow you to hell!" Buggy screeched, his voice spitting in anger as he shook a fist in Luffy's direction.

"I would—" Bon Clay began before Mr. Three cut him off.

"He smashed into us when we were hiding," Mr. Three explained as Luffy's smile dropped.

 _So that's where he flew off too. . . ._

"Oh, I punched him your way," Luffy admitted plainly, looking away from the two pirates.

Buggy nodded. "Oh, okay . . . NO, IT'S NOT OKAY!" Buggy hollered again as Mr. Three panted in exhaustion besides him.

"I should have let myself get caught, I don't want to run anymore!" the wax man whined.

"Damn minotaurus! I'm going to die at this rate," Buggy hissed before eyeing his shoe. "I guess there's only one thing to do." Buggy grinned evilly as he began to talk about the new Buggy Ball.

Luffy had absolutely _no_ idea what Buggy was talking about. Though, he could tell Buggy thought it was really important as he got more and more depressed when Luffy told him that he didn't remember it. How was he supposed to recall every weapon Buggy used? Luffy had come across many different people since he had last seen the clown-faced pirate back in East Blue and so sometimes he forgot certain details, like Buggy's ball.

"Well . . . it's kinda like the Buggy ball . . . but I made it smaller so that I can carry it around but without reducing its power," Buggy explained as a dark cloud loomed over him.

"You must have a lot of faith in it if you gave it your name," Mr. Three said, which surprisingly seemed to cheered up the clown-faced pirate as his face lit up in his apparent glee.

"I do! Alright, minotaurus, have a taste of my Muggy Ball!" Buggy roared, kicking out his leg, releasing a small ball from his shoe as he did.

"Wow! Cool!" Luffy praised in amazement as the fire and smoke from the explosion blew towards them, stinging his eyes.

"Heh, it was a piece of cake." Buggy grinned back at them, but his grin quickly fell as the minotaurus stumbled towards them, scorched but still ultimately undamaged. "DAMN! He's still alive!" Buggy screeched.

"We can beat him, Straw-chan!" Bon Clay said as he jumped into the air, readying his attack.

Luffy turned and looked at Mr. Three once Bon Clay said this. "Hey, Mr. Three! Are you sure you can't use your wax powers?" Luffy asked.

If he used the wax around his fist like a punching glove, then maybe it would be strong enough to defeat him without Luffy having to resort to using one of his gears.

Until he got some much needed food and water, Luffy wanted to try and avoid using any of his gears if at all humanly possible. He knew that if he _did_ use one of his gears before that, he might end up collapsing like how he back at Enies Lobby.

"It'll melt in three seconds!" Mr. Three said back, waving his arms.

Luffy frowned. So what if it would melt! "That means you can still use it!"

Turning back towards the minotaurus, Luffy prepared his own attack as Bon Clay swiftly flew through the air. "Fly, fly, I'm flying! _Okama Kenpo, Memoirs of a Winter's sky!_ " Bon Clay sang as he came down with a harsh kick to the minotaur's already injured head.

The beast groaned harshly as it's lumbering body began to stagger. "Ready, Straw-chan!?" Bon Clay asked as he jumped forward.

Now having Mr. Three's tough wax wrapped around his arm, Luffy charged forward. "Alright, _Gum-Gum, Mallet Rifle!_ " Luffy roared as he let his spinning arm slam _hard_ into the minotaurus.

Thanks to the strong force of Luffy's punch, the demon guard went flying for a few feet before it landed with a loud crash, finally rendered unconscious.

"WE DID IT!" they all cheered, throwing their arms up in the air. Luffy was just happy that he hadn't had to use Second Gear on the beast again thanks to Mr. Three's help. "We beat the monster of hell!"

"Alright, let's keep it up and go on to level four!" Just like that, Buggy and Mr. Three stopped cheering. However, Luffy couldn't shake his grin.

After all, thanks to all of their help, they had managed to defeat this demon guard. If they could accomplish this together, surely they could save Ace!

Buggy sighed, throwing his hands onto his hips. "Alright, let me ask you again. You still wanna go down to level four?"

"Yeah! I knew you'd want to come with me!" Luffy said happily, swinging back on his heals.

"I'm not going at any cost!" Mr. Three moaned. "My body wouldn't last!"

"How many times do we have to tell you, bonehead!?" Buggy yelled, pointing towards the flames. "Can't you see the plumes!? It's a burning hell down there! We're not going down there!"

"Why not!?" Luffy huffed. Obviously they must have wanted to help if they were back again. What else would they be there for?

"IT'S OBVIOUS THAT WE WANNA _ESCAPE_!" Buggy and Mr. Three yelled together, snarling at Luffy.

It was so loud with with Buggy and Mr. Three's exasperated yelling that the four pirates didn't hear the sounds of creaking from the damaged floor they were standing on, not until it was too late.

"Hey! Why is the ceiling rising?" Luffy asked, holding a hand above his eyes as he looked up towards the large metal fan that was in the center of the ceiling.

"Huh, you're right," Mr. Three added, catching Buggy and Bon Clay's attentions. "I can hear rattling too, if I'm not mistaken . . . WE'RE _FALLING_!" Mr. Three screamed as he and the others began to panic.

Unable to stop their rapid descent, the four pirates screamed for their lives as the neared the burning fire that would _probably_ kill them. Quickly looking for anywhere they could jump to for safety, Bon Clay grabbed Luffy's arm before jumping onto one of the roads of level four, Buggy and Mr. Three following after them.

Nevertheless, while this meant that they had escaped death, at least for now, they were quickly overcome by pain from the even hotter floor that they were standing on. Screaming in pain as the intense heat scalded them, they all jumped around like fools until Luffy thought he saw, or, more accurately, _smelled_ a way out.

Charging forward without getting a go-ahead from Bon Clay, Luffy let his nose guide him. Even though the scent wasn't particularly strong due to the intense smells of blood and fire, with his keen nose, Luffy could still smell it. _Food!_

"That's Strawhat Luffy!" Turning his head, Luffy spotted the large mass of prison guards that were charging straight at him as he headed towards what his nose told him was the kitchen.

"Oh! There's a lot of them! This floor is really hot but once I get something to eat, I'll be filled with energy again!" Luffy said as he jumped forward with a grin. The promise of food often had that effect on him.

Using his trusty fireworks move, where his arms and legs flew around in every direction, Luffy knocked out the guards that were blocking his way in a matter of seconds. However, more just kept coming. Though thankfully, Luffy had Bon Clay backing him up so that he didn't have to fight them all on his own.

"STOP!" the few remaining guards yelled, still charging forward, undeterred even as their comrades continued to be defeated by Luffy and Bon Clay. It appeared that Buggy and Mr. Three had ran off again in the chaos.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Luffy roared, quickly growing sick of this seemingly endless swarm of guards. He was just _one_ floor away from getting to Ace and yet these stupid guards still had to keep delaying him! If they simply let him and Bon Clay through, then Luffy could finally get a much needed meal before saving Ace!

Then, something in the atmosphere of the floor suddenly _changed_ and was overcome by a tense unease that made Luffy shudder as it overcame him. Dodging the large purple drop of goop that fell from above him, Luffy felt his heart thump hard against his chest from surprise.

"Straw-chan, look up!" Luffy heard Bon Clay yell. Still in the process of trying to dodge the droplets of strange jelly, Luffy was unable to run when a giant form landed with a resounding crash in front of him.

Smoke covered what had landed, making whatever it was even harder to make out. "I've had enough of you running around and playing by your own rules!"

"Who're you!" Luffy demanded, glaring at the man as he heard Bon Clay scream a name.

 _Magellan?_ Hadn't he heard that name before?

Whoever he was, he was _huge_ , far bigger than Luffy and was coated in that purple goo that had fallen from the ceiling from before. "You're dead, you _vermin_!"

Ignoring the insult, Luffy watched quietly as the guards ran away, seemingly terrified of the man standing before him. Weren't they this guys comrades? _Oh well_.

"Damn you! I was about to go get some food!" Luffy snapped as the purple goop continued to fall off of Magellan where it then sizzled on the floor. Just _what_ was that stuff? "I'm hungry, you need to get out of my way!"

"You're so high-spirited. Don't worry though, soon you'll never need to think about eating again," Magellan explained with a fierce scowl.

"What do you mean?" Luffy asked as Bon Clay finally spoke up from behind him.

"Don't fight him, Straw-chan! He's the Warden of Impel Down— _Magellan_! He ate the venom-venom fruit!" Bon Clay shouted as the flames around them reached farther into the air, almost like they knew a battle was about to erupt. "You gotta run away! He's the last person you want to fight in here!"

"Venom-venom? He's poisonous?" Luffy asked as Magellan nodded his large head.

"Yes, I am and you, Straw Hat Luffy are a rookie pirate with a three-hundred million berry price whose caused far too many problems by rebelling against the Navy and the World Government!" Magellan frowned. "And now, you've snuck into this prison with an iron tight security."

As Magellan spoke, the air became more stifling as the temperature seemed to rise and it was suddenly that much harder for Luffy to breath. It was like the air itself was boiling along with the blood on level four and Luffy wanted nothing more at that moment than to be down on level five instead.

"I have you to thank for ruining my reputation as Warden and I also know why you are here! You came here to rescue your brother, Portgas D. Ace, the second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates!"

Luffy remained still as Magellan announced Luffy's intentions. It wasn't a surprise, word _had_ to have gotten around by now of why he was there. After all, he had told a bunch of the prisoners already that he was there to save his brother. So, why shouldn't the Warden know too?

Ignoring Luffy's lack of response to his statement, Magellan stepped forward, his figure becoming even more intimidating as it loomed over Luffy's _much_ smaller form.

"But I assure you that there's no way that you can save him and escape from here! Straw Hat, this is where you will meet your fate and then I'll find out how you broke in after I pass down your sentence!"

Hearing this, Luffy's normally relaxed body tensed as Magellan's threat hung open in the air. If the man ever found out about how Hancock had helped Luffy enter Impel Down, it would no doubt cause the Pirate Empress a lot of trouble. She might even lose her position as Warlord!

After all she had done to help Luffy, he couldn't allow that to happen to her. He owed her this much at least.

"I'm not going to tell you, even if it means death," Luffy promised, his expression calm and determined even though he was dripping in sweat and his clothes were sticking to him like a second layer of skin.

He would _never_ betray a friend.

The Warden gave a harsh laugh in response. "Every prisoner says that before they are tortured! However, Straw Hat, what you're about to go through is far worse than torture!"

"Straw-chan! Magellan's whole body is poison so you can't even touch him! Do you really think you can beat a guy like that!?" Bon Clay warned before Magellan could continue, though the warning did nothing to sway Luffy's decision.

"I WILL!"

Bon Clay groaned in frustration at Luffy's proclamation. "Let's go back to the Pool of Blood and turn right! Straw-chan, give up on that food and let's go to level five!"

"That's no use," Magellan scoffed, eyeing Bon Clay. "Three demon guards and their commander are guarding the staircase to level five."

"EHH!" Bon Clay screeched in surprise.

"All exits of this floor have already been covered, there's no way for you to get out of here!" Magellan roared, poison from his face splattering onto the floor with a hiss at the force of his shout.

"NO! I don't want to believe it!" Bon Clay yelled as suddenly Magellan's entire body became coated in his purple poison.

With wide eyes, Luffy and Bon Clay watched as Magellan began to form something with his devil fruit power. " _Hydra!_ "

Startled by the giant beast, Luffy stumbled backward. "What is that!? A body made out a poison!?" Unsuccessful at getting an answer to his questions, Luffy dodged the strange head as it came crashing down to where he had just been standing not a second before.

Having ignored Bon Clay's warnings about the dangers of Magellan's poison, Luffy pulled his arm back as he prepared to attack. " _Gum-Gum, pistol!_ " Luffy cried, aiming his fist for the approaching head of the beast.

"NO!" Not even taking the chance to contemplate what he was doing, Bon Clay jumped in front of Luffy's fist, the strong rubber slamming into his gut as a result. " _Straw-chan_ ," Bon Clay groaned as Luffy stared in confusion and horror at what his friend had just done.

"Bon-chan!" Luffy cried as his fist retracted, pulling both him and Bon Clay away from the dreaded hydra. "Why did you do that!?"

"I told you that you can't fight!" Bon Clay yelled as he shook Luffy by his shoulders, trying desperately to get his message across. "The poison will harm you if it gets all over you, but even one touch of it can be lethal!"

"But I can't fight without touching it!" Luffy cried. All his moves dealt with him punching or kicking his opponent. If he couldn't touch them, then he couldn't hit them, so he couldn't fight.

But he _had_ to fight!

"That's why you can't fight him!" Bon Clay repeated, his eyes widening in fear as the hydra came charging back at them.

"Can't you say anything other than 'you can't'!" Luffy complained as he shook Bon Clay, unaware of their impending doom as the hydra loomed ever closer.

Not wanting Luffy to come to harm and knowing that Magellan was only after Luffy, Bon Clay kicked Luffy out of the hydra's path before transforming into the seventeen year old.

" _Gum-Gum, okama pistol!_ " Bon Clay, now disguised as Luffy mimicked, holding out his fist. "Now, can you tell which is the real Straw Hat? I'm sure it's very hard to tell!" Bon Clay asked as he twirled around, still copying Luffy's body along with his voice.

"Bon-chan, your clothes," Luffy muttered quietly, uncomfortable that he was looking at, as well as hearing, a copy of himself. It was just too _strange_.

"You gotta get away while I draw the hydra's attention to me, Straw-chan!" Bon Clay replied as he pressed closer to Luffy's side.

"Huh?" Ignoring Luffy's confused expression, Bon Clay continued to twirl around.

"Here I am, hydra-chan! Come on, come on! Oh _come on_!" Bon Clay sang as the hydra stilled.

"I already told you it's no use!" Magellan snarled as two more hydras erupted from his back, undeterred by Bon Clay's devil fruit power.

"There are more!" Luffy shouted as all three hydras began their pursuit. Running as fast as they could, Luffy and Bon Clay ran past the fallen guards who screamed as the hydras barreled forward, unforgiving as they covered them in the deadly poison.

"Augh! Why is he poisoning his own people!?" Luffy screamed as anger pinched at his heart. You never hurt your own comrades, _never_!

"NO! Hydra's poison is a paralytic neurotoxin! It's gonna run through your body causing you horrible pain and eventually it will kill you!" Bon Clay explained but Luffy was too overcome by his gnawing hunger to understand what he was saying.

Sick of the hydras, Luffy stretched his arms out towards a beam that hung above the ever-threatening flames. He needed to figure out a way to destroy these damn hydras! Swinging forward towards the blazing flames, the heat from the beam stung at his skin but was nothing compared to the pain he felt when the fire caught onto his clothes, licking at his skin as he began to burn.

"OUCH! IT BURNS!" Luffy screamed as he landed on the partially spiked beam. Thankfully, his little stunt had ended in success as one of the three heads was severed due to the flames below him. "Yes! One head's gone!"

"That's what I'd expect from Ace's brother. But it's over now!" Beginning to chew, Magellan blew out a light blue bubble from his mouth and shot it towards Luffy. " _Chloroform Ball!_ " Magellan announced as the ball of gas exploded, releasing a thick purple smoke as it did.

Jumping from the beam to avoid the explosion, Luffy choked as a thin purple mist spread throughout the room. Whatever it was, it stung at his eyes and irritated his nose, causing him to sneeze and his eyes to tear up.

"ATCHOO! What the—ATCHOO!" Luffy sneezed, barely able to make out much of anything as tears pooled in his brown eyes. "What's happening to me, I can't fight—ATCHOO, like this—ATCHOO!"

Unable to do anything, Luffy watched with blurry vision as Magellan rode through his now still hydras before shooting out above him.

"No matter how hard you try, you can't get away from me!" Pulling out his horns, Magellan slammed them towards Luffy who _barely_ managed to dodge them.

"I can't see a thing!" Luffy cried as he wiped at his tears. His vision was becoming one big, colorful blur which hurt to look at, let alone fight in!

"Did you want to touch these!?" Magellan asked sarcastically as he threw more poison at Luffy.

Thankfully, Luffy was able to dodged the incoming balls of poison but then hung desperately from a tiny sliver of a ledge after he had jumped to escape them.

Salty tears still pouring down from his eyes, Luffy jumped again from the incoming attack, the horn just barely grazing his head before slamming into the stone wall, causing an explosion of debris and smoke to fill that already tainted air.

Sliding down the wall, Luffy felt his knees give out as he sniffled before rubbing at the top of his head. Brushing some of his hair into his shaking hand, Luffy watched as it immediately disintegrated into nothing. "One touch and it's all over," he muttered to himself as he looked up above. "AH! The rock wall is melting!"

Magellan looked down towards his crying prey, a dangerous gleam in his dark eyes. "Now it's _your_ time to melt!"

Staggering to his feet, Luffy rubbed at his eyes again. "I need to rescue Ace," Luffy said quietly as the wall continued to melt because of Magellan's toxic poison.

"In the end, brothers like you and Ace share the same fate," Magellan stated as he slid down the destroyed wall before landing behind Luffy, "And I will be the one to seal yours!"

With that Magellan let out a fierce roar as he charged again at Luffy, his toxic poison eating away at everything it touched.

Stumbling away from Magellan's attacks, Luffy eyes continued to sting as he looked around him. Where was Bon-chan? Had he abandoned Luffy too just as Buggy and Mr. Three had? Could Luffy really not rely on _anyone_ to help him save Ace?

Clenching his fist tightly as his chest constricted in pain at the thought, Luffy took into the chaos around him. Fire burned steadily all around them, casting an ominous red glow as Magellan: fierce and menacing, continued to attack him with everything he had.

For a moment, as Luffy felt his body struggle against the panic that was setting in along with the sheer _desperation_ to get away, he finally realized _just_ the kind of hell he was in.

 _Help me._

* * *

 **Comments are much** **appreciated!**


	7. An Okama's Strength

**I hope that you all are enjoying the story so far! Things will be picking up after this and finally we will start to see some serious changes. Next chapter will be released sometime next week either on Monday 8/22/2016 or Tuesday 8/23/2016. Anyway, enjoy this chapter as best as you can . . . you'll see what I mean.**

 **Chapter summary: Bon Clay makes the ultimate sacrifice and as a result, changes the world.**

* * *

Bon Clay, his stomach churning in fear, watched from behind a pillar, a safe distance away, as Magellan continued to attack Luffy.

His friend was in trouble and yet here he was, _hiding_! He could cheer him on and shout his praises, but what good would that do? It wouldn't change the fact that he was letting his friend fight alone against a monster like Magellan.

No, he needed to do something other than just standing here, hiding away like a _coward_!

"My life will be _worth_ something if I can die for my friend! You gotta get up and fight in the name of okama way, Bon Clay!" Bon Clay said to himself as he watched from below as Luffy continued to dodge Magellan's attacks.

Even from this distance, Bon Clay could tell that Luffy was struggling even to do just that. If he didn't hurry, then it might be too late for him to save his friend!

Despite this conviction, however, his legs wouldn't _move_.

Which wasn't at all surprising. After all, what could _he_ do!? All his attacks involved him touching his opponent, so no matter what move he might use, he'd end up getting poisoned! Frustrated at his inability to come up with a safe solution, tears began to pour down Bon Clay's face, smearing his already runny makeup.

How could he ever stand a chance against Magellan!? How could he save his friend!? The only way to survive was to run and yet . . . even with this indisputable knowledge, Bon Clay _didn't_ run.

It was a decision that would change the outcome of today, it _had_ to be.

Today, instead of Luffy fighting Magellan alone, Bon Clay would be there! Running from out behind the pillar, instead of heading away from the battle, Bon Clay ran _towards_ it!

He didn't know what would happen in the next few minutes, but if he could save Luffy, he wouldn't mind dying. Heading towards where Luffy had fallen, Bon Clay helped his exhausted friend stand.

"Bon-chan!" Luffy exclaimed, gasping for breath. "I thought you had run off!"

"Of course not, Straw-chan! How could I leave a friend behind!" Bon Clay shouted back as Magellan stepped towards them.

Fire stretched out all around them and the tension in the air was almost too thick to even stand in. Still, Bon Clay didn't waver, even as his legs began to shake in fear. "Don't you wanna give up now?" Magellan asked as he stopped a few feet away from them.

"I'm gonna rescue Ace," Luffy muttered as he gasped for breath, no doubt exhausted from his trials there in prison, "and we're going to get out of here. I'm not going to die without seeing him!" Luffy yelled, letting go of Bon Clay before he crouched.

It was a fighting position that Bon Clay recalled that Luffy had used before sending the minotaurus flying back on level three. He was unsure of what this so called, ' _Second Gear'_ , entailed other than that it made the rubber teen much faster, which of course made it useful in fights.

However, this was simply a fight that Luffy _couldn't_ win, regardless of what is adrenaline spiked mind might think.

"I'm not going to let you execute Ace!" Luffy growled, steam beginning to hiss from his reddened body.

"What's that smoke?" Magellan demanded with a growl and Bon Clay could not help but have the same question. What exactly was Luffy doing to his poor body?

"I don't wanna lose to you by not touching you because you're poisonous! I'd rather touch you and give you my arms!" At these words, Bon Clay's next action became clear.

It might not help any and it might simply kill both of them in the end, but he would at least _try_.

He couldn't let Luffy do what he was planning!

"I don't want your arms! But if you want me to have them, I'll take them!"

At this, Bon Clay watched as Luffy pulled back his arms as far as he could, preparing to use the move he was all too familiar with. " _Gum-Gum, jet bazooka!_ " And with that, Bon Clay _moved_.

As he had before when the battle with Magellan first began, he jumped in front of Luffy's incoming fist. However, unlike last time, there would be no stopping this powerful punch, but at least Bon Clay could add to the blow whilst shielding Luffy's arms.

The results from his actions were almost instantaneous. "BON-CHAN!" Luffy screamed as his first slammed into Bon Clay, who, due to the force, slammed _right_ into Magellan.

Poison immediately splattered across Bon Clay's entire back as he made contact. "ARGH!" he screamed as pain erupted from his back and stomach.

He had only been in contact with the poison for mere seconds but already it began to burn through his clothes and seep into his skin, spreading its neurotoxins as it began to slowly kill him.

Though his sacrifice was not in vain as the force of the attack sent Magellan flying back towards the fire and far away from them. Bon Clay too would have gone flying along with Magellan if Luffy hadn't desperately grabbed onto Bon Clay's shirt to keep him there.

"W-why!? Why did you do that Bon-chan!" Luffy screamed as his friend withered in pain on the ground, poison covering the entirety of the backs of his arms, legs, head, and back.

With such a large amount, there would be no saving him. Perhaps if it had just been a small bit of poison, he could have gotten the antidote and survived . . . but that simply wasn't the case.

Nevertheless, even as a fierce, indescribable pain burned through his poisoned body, Bon Clay couldn't help but smile through it.

He had actually done it! He had saved his friend and got him away from Magellan's poisonous clutches, at least for the time being.

Sure, it would cost him his life, but as long as Luffy would be able to live and save his brother, it would all be worth it.

" _Couldn't_ ," Bon Clay gasped, fighting the pain just enough so that he'd be able to speak and answer his dear friend, "let you kill yourself!" Grasping onto Luffy's outstretched hand, Bon Clay's eyes brimmed with tears as Luffy began to cry his own.

"So you sacrificed yourself! I didn't want that!" Luffy shouted back, his face contorting in pain and sorrow.

"I know, but . . . this was _my_ choice! I couldn't live with myself if you had died while I just ran away!" As the pain became unbearable, it became too much for Bon Clay to speak, let alone keep his eyes open.

So, not having much strength left, Bon Clay surrendered to the pain and simply allowed himself to _scream_.

* * *

Luffy couldn't help but hate himself as he watched Bon-chan dissolve into agonized howls. If he had simply listened to his friend's warnings, then perhaps Bon Clay wouldn't be in this horrible, _life threatening_ situation!

If Luffy hadn't been so damn stubborn then Bon Clay would have been fine right now! Not withering on the hard ground, obviously in so much pain!

"DAMMIT! I won't let you die!" Carefully pulling Bon Clay onto his back, Luffy staggered once as the effects from using Second Gear hit him again, but shook it off.

He couldn't waste the time that Bon Clay's sacrifice had offered them. He had to get them somewhere safe before Magellan came back!

Stumbling through level four with this in mind, Luffy soon found a small alcove, almost invisible unless someone was specifically looking for it. It would have to do until Luffy figured something else out.

Crawling inside, Luffy set Bon Clay gently down onto the ground. He was still twitching in pain as the poison no doubt continued to spread throughout his body and Luffy couldn't help but continue to cry tears of frustration and anger as he watched, _helpless_.

 _He_ was the one who was supposed to be in pain right now, not Bon-chan!

After all, Luffy had been the one to choose to ignore Bon Clay's numerous warnings and fight Magellan anyway! Rubbing at his eyes, Luffy screamed silently in his head as he continued to watch his friend suffer.

Surely there must be _something_ he could do to save Bon-chan! Maybe there was an antidote that could heal him! There had to be something that could help him, or rather, _someone_! Like a light bulb flicking on, Luffy's hands pulled away from clutching at his head as he finally remembered.

Didn't Bon Clay want to go down to level five to find a guy called the Miracle Worker!? He must be able to save Bon-Chan if he had that kind of a title!

However, Luffy had already heard from Magellan that the way to get down to level five was blocked, so how was he suppose to get down there to look for this Miracle Worker?

He couldn't just leave Bon Clay here and he couldn't go fight all those demon guards with Bon Clay on his back, so what was he supposed to do!?

" _Please_ , somebody help him," Luffy whispered quietly, hoping that someone would answer his plea.

Suddenly, like an answer from fate itself, the wall behind Luffy opened up, revealing a tall man where the wall had used to be.

He looked rather strange with that half-white, half-orange get up, but Luffy didn't care all that much. As long as the man could lead him to the Miracle Worker, he didn't care _what_ he looked like!

"Come with me," the man stated as he headed back into the tunnel, not bothering to check to make sure that Luffy was even following.

Luckily, Luffy hadn't needed to be told twice. Carefully pulling Bon Clay onto his back again, Luffy followed after the man, the wall sealing shut behind them.

As Luffy continued to walk behind the strange man through the dark passageway, nothing except joy surged through him. After all, this was a chance to save his friend!

After what seemed like forever, the man with the glass of wine stopped. Luffy blinked and was about to ask why when an even taller person stepped out from behind another wall.

He was even _stranger_ looking than the orange guy!

This new stranger's outfit consisted of hot-pink leather that showed off his tattooed chest, fishnet tights, high-heeled pink leather boots, a necklace made out of pearls, and even a cape. His physical appearance however was even more amazing! His hair was a giant purple afro and his abnormally large head was painted on with makeup.

Was _this_ the so called Miracle Worker?

"Vi have been watching you two on the monitors, Straw boy. Vi can't believe that you made it this far into the prison. Vi have never seen people as lucky as you two!" the man praised as he eyed Luffy up and down.

"Bon-chan tried to save me! Please save him, he was poisoned by Magellan!" Luffy cried, clutching at Bon Clay's twitching arm. "I'm begging you, save him! He's my friend!" Falling to his knees, Luffy set Bon Clay gently onto the floor before he bowed his head to the ground.

Bon Clay had been willing to sacrifice himself for Luffy's sake so _many_ times, like back in Alabasta for instance. Bon Clay and his crew had taken it upon themselves to help Luffy and his own crew escape the Marines clutches.

If they hadn't, perhaps Luffy and his friends would have never made it past Alabasta and all the things they had done after would have never occurred.

Like saving the people of Skypiea or helping Robin through the scars and pain that life had forced upon her.

Or maybe Luffy would have never met Franky and shown the man that he didn't _have_ to just break things apart but that it was okay to create things too.

Or even worse yet, if the Straw Hats had been captured back in Alabasta than Brook might have still been sailing through the Florian Triangle, broken and so horribly _alone._

Bon Clay hadn't just saved Luffy and his crew that fateful day back in that desert country, he had saved their entire futures and all of those the Straw Hats encountered after.

Luffy would always be so incredibly grateful for that and now Bon Clay had saved him yet again. However, he hadn't simply saved Luffy's life again, but the okama had also brought Luffy closer to saving _Ace's_ life and honestly, the young captain was at a loss of how to repay such a debt.

Still, before he could even begin to try and give back to his dear friend the kindness and loyalty he had shown him, he needed to save the okama, just as Bon Clay had saved him!

After a minute of silence while Luffy contemplated this, the man before him finally spoke.

"Okay, Vi will help him!" the okama proclaimed with a passionate shout of his own.

It appeared that what Luffy had just done had helped sway him.

" _Really_! Thank you!" Luffy shouted as a smile stretched across his rubber cheeks, he was so happy!

This was his chance to finally start repaying Bon-chan for all the sacrifices that he had made for Luffy!

"Pick up your friend and follow me!" WIth a twirl of his heel, the purple haired okama headed towards the door.

"Un!" Carefully pulling Bon Clay back onto his back, Luffy followed after his and Bon-chan's savior.

Now in a large, stone hallway, there wasn't much to see but Luffy could begin to make out the faintest of noises, which he had trouble identifying but before he could figure it out, the okama arrived at a large, heavily barred door and pulled it open. Stepping inside, Luffy followed after him.

"Place him on the table, Straw boy," he instructed with a point of his gloved hands.

Nodding, Luffy placed Bon Clay onto the small bed at the side of the room. "So, you'll really save him?" Luffy asked as he stared up at the taller man with his wide, brown eyes.

"Vi will try," was the reply just as Luffy's stomach gave a loud growl. "Are you hungry, Straw boy?"

"Ugh, yeah but I wasn't able to get any food from the kitchen. Stupid Magellan!" Luffy whined as he rubbed his grumbling stomach.

"Vi have food here if you would like it," he said, motioning out back towards the hallway.

"Really! Ah . . . but I don't want to leave Bon-chan," Luffy admitted quietly as sorrow flashed across his face again as Bon Clay lay there on the bed, twitching in pain.

Honestly a meal right about now would _really_ help Luffy get some much needed energy back before he continued his mission to save Ace, but he didn't want Bon Clay to have to suffer alone. After all, it was Luffy's fault he was there in the first place.

"Hmm, well Vi need my space to treat your friend. So go with Inazuma to get something to eat and Vi'll collect you later when Vi am finished."

Understanding the other mans point, Luffy nodded. "Well, I guess that's alright. Promise that you'll come and get me when you're finished?" Luffy requested, his eyes boring into the tall okama.

"Of course."

"Alright! Come on orange guy, let's go get some food!" Luffy cheered, happy with the promise of food and now that Bon-chan was in capable hands.

"This way," Inazuma said, leading the way out the door and to where all the noise was coming from along with hoards of delicious smells. Luffy couldn't wait!

* * *

After Luffy was gone, the man known as Ivankov shut the door to the room and turned back towards Bon Clay.

"Can you still hear me through your pain?" Ivankov asked, as Bon Clay opened one of his eyes. They were filled with pain and question, but above all, they told Ivankov that this man was still capable of thought.

" _Yes_ ," Bon Clay hissed as another spasm of pain ran through him.

"Your friend wants me to save you."

"Can you?" Bon Clay groaned, grinding his teeth.

"Possibly, but it won't be cheap and the pain you feel from it will be ten times worse than what you are feeling now and even still, Vi can't guarantee your survival," Ivankov began, his voice solemn. "The chances of the treatment working are only between two and three percent, and also rely heavily on your own will to live," he finished, just as Bon Clay closed his tired eyes.

"Knowing this, do you want my help?"

Bon Clay shook his head no.

His will wasn't as strong as Luffy's and he was sure that he wouldn't survive the treatment that this man described. Besides, he felt like there was still _something_ he needed to do yet with the last hours of his life. He didn't want to waste it trying a cure that would ultimately fail.

"Would you like me to give you something else then? Something that will put you to sleep; your death will be quick and peaceful that way."

Bon Clay shook his head no again.

"Then what _do_ you want?"

"I-I want, you to . . . help me survive for one day. So that I can . . . do _one_ last thing," Bon Clay explained, pained by each word he spoke.

"Really?" Iva said, surprised by the statement. "Well, Vi suppose Vi could give you something. It will allow you to walk and move around a little and dull a minimal amount of the pain. However, you will still die from the poison."

"I know," Bon Clay said with a twisted smile, filled with a mixture of happiness and pain.

"Alright, but what should Vi tell Straw boy?" Iva asked, moved by this man's actions.

"Don't . . . tell him," Bon Clay gasped as his fingers clutched at the sheets. Luffy couldn't find out the truth!

He knew that if Luffy were to find out then he would no doubt feel guilty about what was ultimately Bon Clay's _own_ choice and Bon Clay didn't want that! Why should his friend feel guilty? It is not as though Luffy had asked Bon Clay to sacrifice his life and as such, he should feel no guilt for it.

Besides, Bon Clay had felt like he had never had much of a purpose in this life until now. Sure, he had once been one of the most powerful members of Baroque Works, but he had always felt like he had never found his _true_ purpose for living.

After what had transpired back in Alabasta, Bon Clay had had some guesses but it was today in Impel Down that finally helped solidify what he had known since meeting that strange, yet wonderful rubber teen all those months ago.

Perhaps he was alive so that he could simply _save_ Luffy.

After all, Bon Clay was certain that Luffy would continue to change the lives of those he encountered in this strange, chaotic world.

If Bon Clay sacrificing his own life meant that Luffy would be able to achieve this and his dreams, then he was more than willing. However, it didn't mean he wanted Luffy to bare the burden of Bon Clay's choice.

After all, he had just wanted to save his friend and Bon Clay was certain that Luffy would have done the same if the situation had been reversed. Luffy was simply that great of a person.

He would do anything, even risk his own life to save a friend and Bon Clay didn't see why he couldn't do the same. Hence why all of this was happening now.

So, what happened was done and over with but that didn't mean that Luffy needed to know the truth. It would be better this way.

That way, Luffy could continue his rescue mission to save his brother unimpeded by guilt and Bon Clay could die knowing he had helped save them both with his decision to help a friend instead of running away.

Things would be better this way, Bon Clay was certain of it.

Iva nodded, accepting Bon Clay's wish. "Vi'll be back with a change of clothes, bandages, and something to wash the rest of the poison off. That way he won't be able to tell the difference." Walking over to the door, Iva pulled it open.

"Thank . . . you," Bon Clay whispered, tears falling from his closed eyes.

Iva closed the door.

* * *

 **Don't kill me please! I love Bon Clay too but honestly, his actions in the fight with Magellan were one of the things that I knew if it had gone differently in canon, then perhaps much of what transpired afterward would too have been changed.**

 **Anyway, I at least we know that Luffy is safe . . . probably.**

 **Remember, comments are much appreciated!**


	8. A Misplaced Attack

**IMPORTANT NOTICE: Due to the fact that classes have started back up again, two-week intervals between chapters are now going to be implemented.**

 **Also, please read the notes at the end of the chapter for an explanation regarding the altered timeline of this story (basically what I've changed and how that has affected things).**

 **If you have any questions regarding the story, feel free to message me. I will answer them if I can just so long as they don't try to force me to change my story.**

 **Also, I would like to mention that in regards to the mpreg, Luffy will NOT be turning into a girl. At one point in this chapter you may think for a second that he does and I didn't want anyone to turn away before they read on and see that no, Luffy does not turn into a girl.**

 **Anyway, please enjoy this extra long chapter!**

* * *

Stepping away from the room that the okama would be treating Bon Clay in, Luffy followed after Inazuma. As they walked along the dark and rather narrow pathway, Luffy couldn't help but feel like some weight had finally been lifted off of his shoulders.

Ever since he had been separated from his crew, Luffy's life seemed to have been one chaotic incident after the other and if he was being honest with himself, Luffy knew that it had been weighing on him.

The stress and uncertainty of it all had been pushing him and had started to make him believe that nothing would _ever_ change. That the people he cared about would always be in some type of turmoil and he would be fighting to save them.

So to finally have something _good_ happen, well . . . Luffy was kinda surprised by how relieved he felt.

Perhaps his luck was finally starting to change and soon he'd be able to save Ace and after that, maybe things could finally return to normal.

He and Ace would be back to sailing with their crews, enjoying their lives as pirates and chasing after their dreams.

All Luffy needed to do now was head down one more level and this could become a reality. Which reminded him, _where_ exactly was he?

"Hey, Inazuma, where are we?" Luffy asked, turning towards the tall man walking calmly beside him.

This new area didn't seem at all like level four. There were no intense heats nor were there any fires, there was only cold, damp hallways that seemed to go on forever.

"We are currently on level 5.5."

 _What!?_

"Level 5.5!? I thought that there were only five levels of Impel Down! Ace was supposed to be on level five!" Luffy yelled, his voice echoing against the stone walls of the hallway.

If that were the case, then Luffy had passed by Ace without even knowing it! Or, an even worse case, there were even more levels of Impel Down and Ace was on one of those levels. Which meant that Luffy may have a lot more to go until he could finally save his big brother.

"There are actually six levels to Impel Down, and level 5.5 is the level between levels five and six. It is a safe haven for prisoners, ones that the guards and the Warden are unaware of."

"Huh, really? So, is Ace on level five or six then? Luffy asked. If Ace wasn't on level five then surely he had to be on this level six, right?

"Your brother is currently being held below us on level six," Inazuma replied, taking a sip of his red wine.

"Awesome!"

If that was really the case, then Luffy was nearly there! Once Bon Clay was fixed up, they could have whoever was healing him take them down to where Ace was, it was perfect!

"Ah. . . ." Luffy started, suddenly realizing he hadn't actually gotten the name of the large, afro haired man who was currently healing Bon Clay. "Who was that guy before?"

"You mean Iva-sama?"

"Yeah! I think so at least. Is that his name?" Luffy asked, smiling broadly.

"Yes, he has also been called the Miracle Worker if that helps at all," Inazuma replied.

"He's the Miracle Worker!? Than that means he's the guy Bon-chan had been looking for! This is great!" Luffy cheered, bouncing around in his in-containable glee.

Not only was Luffy closer to finding Ace but Bon-chan had found the person he had been looking for as well! It was like a dream come true! Humming as they continued on, Luffy was satisfied, at least for now, with the answers he had been given.

Just so long as Bon-chan was healed and Luffy was able to save Ace in time, he'd stay happy.

As they continued to walk, to where Luffy wasn't sure, his keen ears started to catch the slightest of sounds of what _had_ to be a party! Luffy was sure of it! He would recognize those sounds anywhere, after all, he and his crew often partied.

With each passing step the noises continued to increase in volume until Inazuma and Luffy stopped in front of a large door.

Pushing it open, bright lights flooded the dark hallway, nearly blinding Luffy as it did. No _wonder_ why that Inazuma guy wore sunglasses indoors. Luffy would too if he always had to deal with light as bright as this!

Letting his eyes adjust to the sudden change in lighting, Luffy gasped in awe at what he saw before him.

All around him was a flurry of noise and people of all shapes and sizes partying like there was no tomorrow! Music played as the people chatted and laughed while they ate and danced around under multiple disco balls that spread a rainbow of technicolors around the large room.

Honestly, Luffy was kinda speechless at seeing it all. After all, this was the _last_ thing Luffy expected to find there in prison.

He had figured that all he would encounter in prison would be guards, jail cells, and of course, prisoners. Never did he imagine that he would find a bunch of partying okama!

Seeing the arrival of Luffy and Inazuma, nearly all of the partiers in the room turned towards them; large, friendly smiles on each one of their faces.

"Cheers to the newcomer!" one of the people cheered, the rest of the large group responding in kind.

"We've been watching you guys on the monitor! We all really enjoyed it!" a man said, holding out his jug of beer towards Luffy in thanks.

"Really? You guys were watching us this whole time?" At some of the men and women's nods, Luffy smiled. "Shishishi! You guys are weird!"

"Hahaha! You're weird yourself, kid! Come and have a seat, we've got plenty of food to eat and you must be hungry after all that fighting you had to do!" a woman laughed, offering the open seat at one of the large, circular tables for Luffy to sit at.

Eyes locking onto what was covering each table, Luffy's mouth began to water at the sight and smell of it all. Huge piles of mouth watering food, each one looking as equally as delicious as the next were on nearly every table, practically _begging_ to be eaten!

"YAY FOOD!" Luffy cheered, plopping his small body onto the offered seat before he dug in.

Since he had been working up an appetite since level three, Luffy was absolutely _starving_ now and he wasted no time in devouring all the food he could get his rubber hands on.

The okama watched in a disgusted awe as Luffy's stomach stretched as he shoveled morsel after morsel into his insatiable gullet.

Once Luffy was happily content with the fullness in his belly, he couldn't help but lean back in his chair as he gave a content sigh.

"That was yummy!" Patting his bulging stomach, Luffy glanced up at where Inazuma was standing a little ways away. "Hey, Inazuma guy!"

Turning towards the sound of his name, Inzauma's cool gaze fell onto Luffy. "Yes, Strawhat?"

"Do you think I could bring some of this food to Bon-chan? I'm sure he's hungry too and nobody should have to be hungry!" Luffy said, already gathering some of the food that he hadn't eaten to bring back to Bon Clay.

"That is fine. You can bring him some once Iva-sama returns," Inazuma said, taking a large sip of his wine again.

"Ahh, I guess I can wait. How long do you think it'll be until he's back?" Luffy grumbled as his stomach decreased in size until it was as flat as it was before he had eaten.

"Well, that depends."

"Depends on what?" Luffy asked as the door to the room slammed open.

"GUESS _WHO'S_ BACK!" Dancing into the room in a rather _grand_ fashion, Ivankov stood in the doorway, grinning at the happy faces of the people of Newkama Land.

"IVA-SAMA!" they cheered in response.

"You're back! Is Bon-chan all better now?" At this question, Iva's face fell in sudden despair and his large body crumpled to the ground.

"Vi'm afraid that Bon boy. . . ." he began, the pain in his voice shooting needles into Luffy's heart as he was overcome by a fierce dread. Had something happened to Bon Clay? "IS FINE!" Jerking back in surprise at the answer, Luffy's face filled with rage.

"DON'T DO THAT!" he roared, stomping his feet in anger as Iva stood back up. "I THOUGHT SOMETHING WAS REALLY WRONG WITH HIM!"

"Calm down, Straw boy. Bon boy will be fine after he gets a few hours rest. No need to get so upset," Iva rebutted, raising an eyebrow at Luffy's pouting face.

"Ah, really? So can I go see him now?" Luffy asked, his frustration and anger falling from his face now that he knew Bon-chan was alright. If he hadn't been, Luffy wasn't sure what he would have done.

"Yes, but try not to disturb him." Getting the a-okay, Luffy grabbed some food and in his excited hurry to get back to his friend, didn't look up when he went charging out the door.

Slamming against a muscled wall of flesh, Luffy fell back onto his rear end, the food in his arms falling to the floor as his arms reached out instinctively to try and catch himself.

"AH, my _food_!" Luffy whined, scrambling to pick up the scattered bits of fruit and meat.

"EMPORIO IVANKOV!" the man who Luffy had slammed into screamed; catching everyone's attention as spotlights fell onto his huffing form. "You were the Queen of Kamabakka Kingdom, weren't you!? Fifteen years ago, my father who was once a King of a country himself, went to Kamabakka kingdom and came back as an okama!" the muscled man yelled, pointing a medium sized cannon towards Ivankov.

"EH!" Iva screeched back, cringing away from the man.

"Because the King became an okama, both his country and family were ruined and I fell from my princely status to become a lowly pirate!" the man cried, tears pouring down his bearded face as he shifted his hold on the cannon. "I'm glad to have found you! You'll pay for ruining my life!"

Blinking his owlish brown eyes, Luffy watched from where he had fallen on the ground as Ivankov seemed to be shaken by this guys threat, evident by the way his knees shook.

What was he so scared of? This guy seemed pretty darn weak, surely Iva could take him.

"No, no, no! Don't do that! Where did you get that thing?" Iva asked as the man continued to point it directly at Iva's face. "Watch it! If Vi get shot Vi'm gonna die, Vi'm gonna . . . OR NOT!" Iva hollered, flexing his arms.

"You're such a character Iva-sama!" the crowd cheered as Iva showed off his body, basically taunting the man with the cannon.

 _Oh, he's just joking!_ Understanding now that the okama was merely playing with this wayward criminal, Luffy turned back to picking up the rest of his scattered food. As such, Luffy was caught by surprise when the pirate suddenly shot a cannon ball towards Iva's head.

Seemingly prepared for this, Iva batted his thick eyelashes. " _Death Wink!"_ Like a strange shock wave, Iva's move shot the cannon ball back towards the shooter, which was unfortunate for Luffy who was still sitting there in front of him on the ground.

"GAH!" Trying to scramble out of the way in time, Luffy was only barely able to avoid the majority of the blast and as such, was slightly damaged by the attack as well.

Coughing from the smoke that resulted from the attack, Luffy tried to stand but stumbled when Iva suddenly jumped over to where he and the other pirate where and _fell_ into Iva's next attack.

" _Emporio Female Hormone!"_

Almost too quick for anyone to really grasp, Luffy fell into Iva's spiked glove, the needles grazing his stomach and slicing through the rubber skin there before they stabbed into their original target.

Falling forward, Luffy yelled as pain assaulted him. _Why do I always end up getting cut!?_

Holding onto his injured stomach, Luffy couldn't help but groan as his body seemed to spasm for a second before the pain dulled away. Sighing in relief as it did, Luffy looked up to the shocked and almost _surprised_ faces of the okama around him.

"What?" Luffy demanded before he turned his head. "EH, that guy is a girl now! How'd that happen!?" Wide eyed, Luffy stared at the where the man had stood only seconds before.

It was obvious that he was now a _she_ so Luffy was at a slight loss for word as the man turned woman took this chance to escape with what was left of her new, shattered dignity.

"Eh? Ah yes, but . . . how do _you_ feel Straw boy?" Iva inquired, staring intently at Luffy's body.

"Huh," Luffy began glancing down to the small cut above the waistband of his jean shorts, "yeah, I'm fine. It's just a little scratch, I've been hurt a lot worse before."

"No matter! We should still have a look at you to make sure you are really alright. Bon boy would no doubt be upset if we didn't help you after we looked after him," Iva said as Inazuma helped Luffy stand up from the floor.

"I'm fine, really! I just wanna get back to Bon-chan," Luffy explained, holding tightly to his food as Inazuma lead him over to the plush pink couches over on the far side of the room, Ivankov following behind them. "Besides, that guy turned into a girl! Surely she needs more help than I do."

However, both males simply ignored Luffy's protests and plopped him down onto the couch. Seeing that they weren't going to give in, Luffy set down Bon Clay's food.

Taking a seat on the couch in front of Luffy's, Iva stared down at him, his gloved hand resting on his chin as he looked over Luffy's body.

"If you would Straw boy, please take off your shirt," Iva asked, nodding at Luffy. Not bothering to ask why, Luffy pulled the blue garment off his head before setting it aside.

The poor thing was in a rather sorry state after all the abuse it had been subjected to there in the prison, and honestly, Luffy could use a new one before he headed down to level six.

"Hmm, well everything _looks_ normal there," Iva hummed, his eyes lowering until they reached Luffy's shorts. "But what about _there_."

"There?" Luffy repeated, following Iva's line of sight where they were staring, rather intently, at his shorts zipper.

"Straw boy, please take off your shorts."

"WHAT!?" Luffy exclaimed, shocked by the polite demand. "Why do I need to take off my shorts!"

"Now, now there is no need to be shy. We've seen it all and besides, the body is a beautiful thing. Don't be embarrassed," Iva said, sending what Luffy guessed was his attempt at a reassuring smile towards him.

"I'm not embarrassed!"

"Then it shouldn't be a problem, take them off or I'll have Inazuma do so for you," Iva threatened, waving a hand towards the other man who was still standing by his side.

Huffing, Luffy glared at them before unbuttoning his shorts and shoving down the zipper before pulling them off.

Now that he was completely nude, Luffy crossed his arms over his chest as a some of the okama whistled at him while Iva continued to stare down at Luffy's dick. Honestly, they were about as bad as the women at Amazon Lily.

Taking a glance to see what could possibly be so interesting, all Luffy saw was his own junk. Nothing was different so why the sudden interest?

"Alright, you can put your shorts back on, Straw boy," Iva instructed as he turned to look at his own hand instead.

Raising an eyebrow at the action, Luffy bent down, receiving another whistle, before pulling his shorts back on.

"Alright, what was all of that for?" Luffy asked, taking a seat on the couch again. "Why were you so interested in me when that guy from before turned into a girl?"

Luffy remember Iva attacking the guy and then suddenly BOOM, a girl replaced him. It had to have been because of a devil fruit, that was the only sensible option.

"Vi ate the Horm-Horm fruit so now Vi can control people's hormones, change their sex, body temperatures, skin colors, growth, and emotions," Iva explained with an excited wave, spinning his body around. "Vi can remodel a person from the inside. Vi'm like an engineer of the human body!"

"Wow! You really are like a miracle worker!" Luffy exclaimed in awe.

"Of course Vi am, hee haw!"

Well, that certainly explained what happened to the other pirate, but it still didn't answer Luffy's question.

"So why did you want to see my body instead?"

Settling back down again, Iva folded his arms across his tattooed chest before crossing his legs. "Well Straw boy, Vi change people with an injection," Iva began, holding his hand up for emphasis as needles extended from the fingertips. "Vi thought that even though you were only scratched by the hormones, you would still change into a female."

"But I didn't."

"No, you didn't. But do you feel strange or different at all?" Iva asked.

"Hmm," Luffy hummed, shifting in his seat. "My pants feel a little tighter around my hips but otherwise I feel normal."

"Well, Vi'm glad to hear. Vi suppose you can go now," Iva said, standing from the couch.

"Well, thank you so much for healing Bon-chan! It really means a lot to me that you helped him!" Luffy thanked with a large grin. He was meeting such interesting people here in prison!

First he had met some pretty strange creatures and encountered a few hellish levels, but the people here in Newkama Land were by far the most interesting and were people he actually _enjoyed_ running into.

Without them, who knows what would have happened to him and Bon-chan.

"Mhm, you're welcome," Iva said as Luffy started to pick up his food again. "Wait, Straw boy! You should go get your stomach bandaged. Vi still have to help Bon boy with one last thing and then you can go see him," Iva explained before Luffy could walk away.

His face fell at the news but he nodded anyway. "Okay, but after that can I go back to Bon-chan?"

"Of course!"

"Shishishi, alright then!" With a grin, Luffy sat back onto the couch as Inazuma reappeared holding some bandages and some disinfectant.

Humming quietly, Luffy allowed Inazuma to clean his wounds from the day, including the newest wound that had been made by Ivankov. Giving a pained hiss as the disinfectant stung at his wounds, Luffy stuck through it until all his injuries were securely bandaged.

"Here you go!" an okama in a bright yellow dress sang as they handed over a yellow vest to Luffy that was almost an exact replica of Luffy's blue one.

"Thank you!" Luffy replied, pulling the vest on over his bandages. He had been needing a new shirt! "and thanks Inazuma for bandaging my wounds, that was a huge help!"

"Of course," Inazuma said with a small smile.

 _Looks like he could show emotion after all!_ Luffy thought to himself, grinning back at the man.

"Shishishi! Can I go back to Bon-chan's room now?" Luffy asked as he gathered up his food and a few new additions before glancing at Inazuma for his response.

"It should be fine now, go on ahead." With a grin, Luffy nodded and headed towards the door and back into the hallway. Finally he could return to his friend!

When Luffy finally made it back to the room where Bon Clay was resting, he found his friend asleep, freshly bandaged and in a new change of clothes.

All together, Bon Clay looked relatively okay for a person who had been poisoned. Following Ivan-chan's order to let Bon Clay rest in peace, Luffy took a seat on the floor next to him.

For a while, Luffy stayed there by Bon Clay's side, wishing that his friend would get better soon and that he hadn't gotten injured in the first place. If Luffy hadn't been so reckless, Bon-chan wouldn't be in this situation right now.

However, it was far too late to feel guilty about it. What was done, was done and even though Bon Clay had been poisoned, thanks to Iva, he was going to be okay!

Sadly though, Luffy wouldn't be able to stay there with his friend much longer.

He had to go and continue on with his mission to save Ace and he couldn't do that if he was stuck here on level 5.5. It would be harder to get to Ace without Bon Clay's help, but Luffy would manage somehow.

So, with a heavy heart, Luffy placed the food he had brought for his injured friend by his bedside and with one last glance, left with a solemn goodbye.

"Ah, Iva-chan!" Outside Bon Clay's room, Iva, Inazuma, and a few other okamas stood waiting. "I was just about to leave."

Ivankov gave an understanding nod in return. "Off to go save your brother, correct?"

"Un, I'm sorry to ask but can you look after Bon-chan? I'll be back for him once I save Ace," Luffy asked, eyeing the towering okama.

"We can. But are you sure that it is wise to go on your own? Ah, well it's your life so you can do what you want with it," Iva scoffed, waving his hot-pink, rubber gloved hand.

"What about you Iva-chan? Are you gonna break out?" Luffy asked, fiddling with his hat as he looked for Ace's vivre card. "Bon-chan thought he'd help get your butt out of here, but since he can't, can you guide me to Ace are your way out?"

"What did you just say!? Bon boy came here to save _me_?" Iva chuckled as he bowed his large head. "But Vi don't need to be saved. It's simply not time to break out yet."

"Eh? Why's that?"

It must have been a pretty good reason if he was willing to stay in a hellish place like this!

"Vi know what's going on in the world right now. It's about to change with the Navy and the Whitebeard pirates as key players. But _he's_ not going to make a move yet!" Iva began as Luffy listened intently. "He's the mastermind of all revolutionaries in the world and my comrade, the revolutionary, Dragon!"

"Oh, you're talking about my dad," Luffy added rather bluntly before looking back to his hat.

"Yes. When your father makes a move with his army, then I'll reappear and enter the world again! If Vi escaped now, Vi'd just end up on countless wanted lists around the world," Iva explained as his eyes widened, _finally_ realizing what Luffy had said. "D-D-D-DAD!?"

"DID HE JUST SAY MY DAD!?" all the okama in the room shrieked in surprise. Iva appeared to be so startled by this new knowledge that he flew back into the solid stone wall with a hard crash.

"D-Dragon is . . . your _dad_!?" Iva choked, finally flat onto his face, too overcome by this shocking development. "D-D-DON'T BE RIDICULOUS! YOU'RE THE SON OF DRAGON!? Vi didn't even know he _had_ a son!"

Luffy blinked, now just realizing his mistake. Wasn't that supposed to be a _secret_? _Oops_.

"I shouldn't have said anything but I guess it's okay. Grandpa didn't keep it a secret," Luffy began, scratching at his head. "I don't really know about him. I've never even seen his face."

"What!?" Iva screeched, taking in this information. "Where did you say you were from!?"

"Hm, I'm from East Blue," Luffy admitted, eyeing the vivre card in his hand. It looked like Ace was still down below him, which was a small comfort.

It meant that at least Ace hadn't been taken off to the execution block just yet; Luffy still had time to save him!

With this confirmation, Iva jumped into action. "Inazuma, check to see when they'll be taking Ace boy away!" Iva ordered with a wave of his hand.

"Yes, right away!" Inazuma bowed, running off to follow out the order.

"There isn't much time. But the vivre card was pointing down which means that he's still here!" Iva said, walking forward towards the exit. "Vi'm gonna go to level six with Straw boy now!"

"EHH? Are you really gonna show me the way!?" Luffy exclaimed happily, smiling as he jumped up and down. This way, he'd get down to level six a whole lot faster! "Let's go!"

"STRAW BOY! Don't tell anyone else about your birth! Vi'm a friend of your dad and one of the commanders of the revolutionary army!" Iva shouted as he shoved his giant face against Luffy's much smaller one.

"Ah, I'll try not too," Luffy mumbled against Iva's face before the he continued.

"That's why Vi was arrested! So it's my duty to support you whether you like it or not! Vi can't let my friend's son die right before my eyes!" Iva exclaimed with a prideful stance, straightening his back and pulling his face away from Luffy's. "Tell all the people of Newkama Land, we're going to rescue Ace boy and try to break out of prison!"

"EH! What are you saying all of a sudden!?" the okama yelled, stomping their feet as they complained before Iva silenced them with a stomp of his own.

"Decisions must always be sudden! If you wanna come with me, then get ready to die, prepare for action and wait for us here!" Iva shouted and just like that, the okama were on board.

"ALRIGHT! LET'S DO THIS!"

"We'll follow you to the end, Iva-sama!"

Pumped up by all the sudden adrenaline and resolve to fight, Luffy gave a cry off his own. "ALRIGHT! Wait for me Ace! I'm coming for you!"

LIke a spell had been cast, everyone was off, heading to accomplish their set tasks as they prepared for the battle to come. Once Inazuma returned with the information regarding Ace's departure, the three of them; Luffy, Ivankov, and Inazuma, were off to level five.

However, as they ran, Luffy didn't notice that the vivre card in his hand had slowly started to point up.

As the freezing tundra of level five bit at their skin, the trio ran like the devil was on their heals.

After Inazuma had informed them that Ace's departure time would be in a mere hour or two, they knew that there wasn't time to waste.

Luffy didn't even take the time to comment on the freezing hell of level five. That was just how focused he was on getting down to level six so that he could finally free Ace.

Charging forward, Luffy was quick to attack the wolves that were coming their way. With a hard swing of his fist, he made the vicious dogs go flying as Iva and Inazuma gave attacks of their own.

When they finally reached the large black door that would lead them down to level six, Inazuma was quick to charge forward, following Iva's command to open it.

With a resounding click of the lock releasing, Inazuma pushed open the doors. "They'll be monitoring us from now on," he warned as they passed through the entryway of level six.

"Come and get me if you want!" Luffy yelled toward the transponder snail that sat out in the open.

They could watch them all they wanted, Luffy didn't give a damn! No one could stop him from freeing his brother now!

Heading down the long staircase, the trio dodged the incoming traps and the dozens of guards that came up the stairs, charging at them.

Kicking past these damn inconveniences, Luffy huffed as he sprinted further down. "I'll be there right away, Ace!"

Slamming past more of the guards and traps, Iva helped Luffy continue forward but not before stopping to pick up a guard on the way. Why, Luffy wasn't sure but honestly, he didn't really care.

Nothing was as important right now as getting down to level six to rescue Ace.

"ACE!" Luffy yelled once he reached the bottom of the stairs.

As he tried to catch his breath, Luffy observed the floor of level six. All in all, it looked a lot like level one, simple, dark, and full of cells.

"Only legendary criminals have been held here in the Eternal Hell," Iva added as the guard continued to struggle over his shoulder.

"WHERE ARE YOU, ACE!? I'M HERE TO SAVE YOU!" Luffy screamed, his slightly panicked voice echoing across the eerily silent level six. "ACE!"

"You can't just yell blindly," Iva scolded before latching onto the guard he had kidnapped and glaring at him. "Would you like to tell us where he is?"

"No, no I would not!"

"Oh no, what should Vi do then?" Dropping the guard, Iva smirked down at him. "You have to be true to yourself! _Emporio Female Hormone!_ " Slamming his needle tipped gloves into the guards unprotected side, Iva injected the hormones, turning the male guard into a female one!

"W-what happened?" the newly turned female guard asked, blinking in confusion at her new body.

"How do you like being your true self?" Iva asked as he handed the guard a small, compact mirror.

"What!? Is that me?" she exclaimed, grasping onto the mirror as she examined herself.

Iva nodded with a broad smile. "You're reborn now, no longer a jailer but now a Newkama!"

"Thank you very much, Iva-sama! I finally found my true identity!"

"Oh, don't mention it. By the way—"

"WHERE'S ACE!" Luffy hollered, interrupting Iva. Enough of this pointless bullshit! Where was his brother!?

"That way!" the guard informed, pointing down a hallway lined with large cells.

Finally knowing the way, Luffy ran forward, calling Ace's name as he went until he reached the last cell. However, it was empty when he got there. "He's not here!"

"Are you sure that this is the right cell!?" Iva asked, yelling at the female guard who cowered at the tone of his voice.

"Yes I am! I'm not lying!" she cried, tears spilling down her pale face. Ignoring the crying girl, Luffy turned back to the cell.

So this was where Ace had been this whole time. Bound right behind these bars, chained to the wall and _tortured_ , evident by the blood stains on the floor and wall. They had to have been made by Ace and Luffy felt sick to his stomach just thinking about it.

"You're Strawhat, Luffy aren't you?" a fishman asked from behind the bars of the cell Ace had been in.

"Yeah," Luffy responded, glancing towards him.

"They took him just now! If you go now you can still catch them!"

Surprised by the fishmans willingness to help Luffy rescue Ace, the rubber captain turned to face him.

"Who're you old man?" Luffy asked, curious about this man that wished to help him.

Iva gasped as he stared at the fishman. "He's a big deal. . . ."

Ignoring his friends reply, Luffy stared into the man's unwavering gaze, understanding in it that this man was simply trying to help.

"Alright, I'll go. Thank you! Whoever you are!"

Wasting no more time, Luffy, Iva, and Inazuma ran again but this time towards the direction of the elevator where they would hopefully be able to take to get to wherever they took Ace.

However, once they got there, they were unable to get it to budge even a single inch. Luffy was just about to simply resort to simply climbing up the chain that connected to the elevator when the whole thing suddenly released with a loud crash.

Luckily for them though, Luffy was able to avoid being hit by it.

"It's not usable! They're already keeping an eye on it! Let's go back up the stairs!" Frustrated by coming so far but still managing to miss Ace, Luffy slammed his fist into the floor before following Iva's lead.

Dammit! After all the trials he had faced to get there, he had still been too late! Ace was already gone, probably on his way to be executed.

Though, that didn't matter. Ace may be heading to Marineford at this very minute but Luffy wasn't about to give up now. No matter what, he _would_ save Ace!

Sadly though, it seemed that the guards had the upper hand because when they reached the stairs, bars came slamming down, blocking the stairs and rendering them useless.

"We gotta break through! There's no other way!" Iva yelled, glaring at the bars.

"Yosh!" Luffy hollered, throwing up his fist when suddenly he heard a strange hiss of air. Next thing Luffy knew, a strange gas was flooding down the stairway and pouring into level six.

Jumping away did nothing to avoid it as it spread throughout the air. "That's a lot of gas, is it poisonous?" Inazuma asked, his voice muffled as he shoved his coat sleeve over his mouth and nose, trying to block out the gas.

Luffy had had enough of poison and gasses! He needed to save Ace!

So without contemplating the consequences, Luffy charged forward right into the unidentified smoke. As it assaulted his lungs and made his eyelids droop, Luffy was suddenly overcome by a fierce weight and was unable to stop himself from falling.

His eyes beginning to close as sleep overtook him, that last thing Luffy heard were Iva's worried cries and something latching around his body before everything became dark.

 _Where are you, Ace?_

* * *

 **Changes so far:**

 **-How Luffy chose to defeat the Sphinx (in canon he defeated him thanks to teamwork with Buggy and Mr. Three, in this story he used Gear Third).**

 **-Bon Clay choosing to stay and fight with Luffy.**

 **-Bon Clay instead being poisoned and choosing to let it kill him.**

 **-Luffy visiting Newkama Land and being injured by Ivankov.**

 **-Ace leaving his cell sooner than in canon.**

 **What this means:**

 **-Luffy will have a lot more energy and thanks to not being poisoned, now has more time to get to Ace.**

 **-Bon Clay will unfortunately die but not after fulfilling one last wish.**

 **-Luffy may appear unchanged from the scratch he got from Ivankov but his organs may tell a different story.**

 **-Even though Luffy is much earlier in arriving to level six than in canon, in this story, Ace was moved to leave for Marineford earlier because of a reason that will be explained next chapter.**

 **Hope this helps!**


	9. The Gift

**Okay, change of plans. Life just suddenly got a lot more hectic and I need some time to deal with it. So after the next chapter, I'll be taking a break from posting for a bit. If all goes well I will be back within a month or so but we'll see.**

 **However, I want to reassure you all that I do intend to come back and see this story through to the end. Like I said back in the first chapter, I have many chapters planned out for this story and while I am not sure how long it will take to complete them, I do plan on finishing this story.**

 **Anyway, I do apologize for the suddenness of this. This break will help me catch up on writing and deal with my personal life so I hope that you all can understand. Also, if things work out well, I will be releasing another AceLu story in October in celebration of Halloween! So you all will have that to look forward to as well.**

 **Chapter summary: What Ace wants, and what he actually _gets_ , are not the same thing.**

* * *

If a person had asked him when he had first been imprisoned in Impel Down about what he wanted with what was left of his life, Ace would have been hard pressed to find an answer. At the time, there were so many things that he wanted and it seemed impossible to limit them all down to one, simple response.

Like most prisoners, Ace wanted to be free again; to not be a prisoner in this painful hell. He yearned for the feeling of the sun touching his skin and the salty smell of the sea breeze. It had been far too long since he had seen the outside of this dark cell and Ace had been starting to forget what it felt like to _not_ feel the constant drain from his seastone chains.

He had also forgotten during his endless days of torture and agony what it felt like to feel strong, what it felt like to simply feel _free_.

Though that isn't to say that Ace had forgotten _why_ he wanted to be a free pirate again. Sure, there was the obvious reason of wanting to be back with his crew but there was more to it than that.

If Ace remained on death row he would be used a a pawn to start a _war_ , which would no doubt result in the loss of hundreds of lives. Of these lives would be members of his crew, his _family_ , because they would no doubt try and rescue him.

He couldn't let that happen. However, the chances of him escaping before he was taken to Marineford were slim to none. As such, there was only one viable option left and _that_ was what Ace wanted in his last few days in Impel Down.

He just wanted to die.

It didn't have to be painless or even quick, just so long as the Marines didn't get the satisfaction of carrying out the deed and it happened before a war could erupt.

Hell, he would have ended his own life if he had been able to . . . but he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

The reality of the situation was that Ace simply didn't _want_ to die yet. He still wished he could go back to the wonderful life he had been living up until this point so that he could be with all of his friends and family again.

Not only that, but if Ace killed himself, he would be blatantly breaking his promise with Luffy and he simply couldn't allow himself to do that. Killing himself would hurt Luffy _far_ more than him simply being killed by someone else would and the last thing he wanted was to hurt his precious baby brother.

However, more than just that, Ace still needed to know whether it was _okay_ that he had been born.

This question had plagued him all his life and it seemed wrong to end it before he got an answer. Though that didn't stop him from asking Garp to kill him instead. Perhaps it was cruel and even a little selfish of him to ask this from the man to whom he called grandpa, but at that point, Ace had been long past the point of caring.

Although, it wasn't like asking Garp had mattered much anyway, because the old Marine had refused to carry out Ace's wish and instead had left him in his dark cell to await his execution day.

The only bright side to all of this was the fact Luffy was safe from sharing the same fate . . . or at least, it had been until Boa Hancock informed him of otherwise.

Instead of being off sailing the seas with his unique crew, living the life that Ace would no longer have, Luffy was _there_ , in Impel Down, trying to rescue him and in the process putting all that Ace had done into jeopardy.

There was no point in denying the Warlord's claim, Ace knew his younger brother well enough to know that he would risk everything just to save him. It was sadly a trait that they both shared.

Nevertheless, Ace had been captured so that Luffy wouldn't be. He had allowed himself to become a prisoner: _tortured_ and chained, so that Luffy could be safe and unharmed. The fact that Ace had done all of this to save Luffy and now said teen was undoing it all to save him was a cold irony that Ace found no humor in.

So while in his first dark days in Impel Down Ace had wanted either freedom or death, now in the last remaining hours before his execution, Ace wanted only one thing.

He wanted Luffy _gone._

The longer that Luffy was in Impel Down, the greater his chances were of being captured and tortured, just like Ace had been. It would be better if he simply gave up this worthless endeavor and left Ace to his fate.

However, Ace knew that Luffy would never do that. He would no doubt risk his life if there was even a _small_ chance that he could save him. Ace would know, after all, he would have done the same if it had been Luffy in this position instead of himself.

So really, why should Ace even bother worrying about it? He couldn't stop Luffy from doing what he wanted and honestly, even if he could _somehow_ convince Luffy to stop all of this and leave him to die, Ace simply didn't have the energy to do so.

After countless rounds of torture plus the constant drain on his energy from the seastone chains he was locked onto, Ace simply didn't have that much energy to give nowadays.

Not that any of that would matter much longer, for in a few short hours, Ace would be taken to Marineford, the place of his execution. Where, once the blades came down with a cold hiss of wind, Ace wouldn't _have_ to feel pain anymore.

Not even worry would be able to touch him.

At least, Ace hoped that it wouldn't. After all, death was supposed to be as peaceful as falling asleep, right?

Heaving a weary sigh, Ace closed his eyes as he resumed his waiting.

"So, Fire Fist," one of the guards around Ace's cell began, turning to face him, "are you excited for your special _gift_ before heading off to your execution?"

 _Special gift?_ Ace thought to himself, trying to recall what that was. _Oh . . . that special present._

He remembered now, the special gift was the guards of Impel Down's _disgusting_ way of giving select prisoners the chance to have sex one last time. Honestly, Ace had no idea who the sick fuck was who came up with this idea and why they thought that it was something that a prisoner would actually want before they died.

The fact of the matter was though that some twisted person _had_ started this system and Ace was unfortunately one of those unlucky few to be given this so called gift.

Oh well, it wasn't like Ace would actually _have_ to have sex; he'd just be given the option to.

From what he heard from rumors, the guards would soon take Ace to another cell. There he'd be chained up before they'd bring in another prisoner whom they would drug with a special serum designed to kill the subject unless a male's sperm was directly inserted deep into their rectum.

Basically, it meant that if Ace _didn't_ fuck the other prisoner in the ass, then that poor sap would die from the drug.

Which, too bad for them because Ace had already decided that _no_ matter who the prisoner was, he was just going to let them die.

After all, why waste what little energy he had saving someone who probably _deserved_ to be in Impel Down.

"No answer? Well, no matter, once the demon guard gets here that's where we'll be headed," the guard said before turning away, leaving Ace and Jinbei alone to their silence.

Turning to face his old friend, Ace realized that Jinbei must have known what the guard had been talking about and couldn't help the blush that spread across his face. It was embarrassing to know that an old friend knew he might be having sex in a few short minutes.

Really, Ace was already worried and stressed about Luffy; he didn't need the added feeling of embarrassment on top of all of that.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Ace attempted to say something to his old friend. After all, this would in all likelihood be the last time that either of them ever see each other, Ace shouldn't waste this chance just because of something a guard said.

"Say, Jinbei," Ace began, trying to think of what exactly to say.

While they had never gotten the chance to visit with one another often, Ace still considered Jinbei an important person in his life and he was someone that Ace respected and admired. As such, he wanted to try and have a meaningful conversation with the fishman before he was dragged off by the guards. However, all Ace could manage to think about was Luffy. . . .

Like how soon Ace would sadly be gone from this world, which would leave Luffy with no one to look after him. Sure, Luffy had his crew, but from what Ace could gather, Luffy wasn't even _with_ them. He was battling through the hell of Impel Down _alone_ and that was something that Ace simply couldn't forgive if they had abandoned him or even _allowed_ Luffy to do so by himself.

Sure, Luffy might be a lot stronger than he had been when they were younger, but Impel Down was in the _heart_ of Marine territory and swarming with hundreds of people who wanted nothing more than to see Luffy fail. They would stop at nothing to hurt or kill the young pirate captain and without his crew, Luffy was all the more venerable.

So, Ace couldn't really trust in the Straw Hats to look after his little brother anymore and thus when Ace was killed, there would be no one to look after the reckless rubber pirate in his stead.

 _Unless. . . ._

"I know that this is more than selfish of me to ask but . . . will you look out for Luffy for me once I'm gone?"

If Jinbei agreed to his request, then Ace would finally be able to rest easy and know that someone would be taking care of Luffy when he died.

After all, there was not a single shred of doubt in Ace's mind that when he would be executed, Luffy would _not_ be able to handle it. He would no doubt break down without Ace there to take care of him, but at least with Jinbei there, he'd have someone to help him heal over his last living brother's demise.

"You should know well, Ace-kun, that I will only help someone that I deem worthy of assisting," Jinbei explained, lifting his bruised head to face his cell companion.

"Yeah, I know."

He knew perfectly well but that didn't change the fact that he knew that the fishman would look after Luffy. After all, his little brother had a strange knack for becoming friends with nearly everyone he met, even those of whom were his enemies.

Thankfully, this meant that when the time came for Jinbei to help Luffy, Ace was certain that he would fulfill Ace's last wish.

Knowing this helped to calm Ace's already frayed nerves, but the sudden appearance of one of the demon guards quickly shattered any shred of peace he had.

Glancing forward beyond his cells bars, Ace was surprised that the demon guard that was approaching wasn't the minotaurus, but the _minorhinoceros_. What had happened to that ugly cow?

Until then, the only demon guard that had been charged to guard Ace had been the strange cow-man creature. Sure, Ace was aware that there were several other demon guards, each one a strange mixture of man and beast, but why switch them now?

"Alright, Fire Fist, it's time to go. Though you had better not try anything, because the minorhinoceros would be more than happy to rough you up if you do," a guard warned, stepping aside to allow the demon guard access to Ace's cell. "Which wouldn't be wise considering you're gonna need all the energy you have here in a minute."

 _Well,_ Ace thought to himself. _Since you seem to be looking more forward to my present than I am, why don't you just have it instead?_

While it was a little more than tempting to snark this back to the pompous guard, Ace would rather he avoided another beating, so he held back the sarcastic remark that sat at the tip of his tongue.

Instead, he turned back to face Jinbei, whose face was grim and his body stiff with obvious tension. This would be the _very_ last time they saw one another . . . and yet, Ace couldn't help the pained smile he sent towards his friend.

He would always be grateful towards Jinbei for all he had done for him and the Whitebeard pirates. As well as what he would no doubt do to help Luffy.

Sure, while he and the fishman had never been as close as Ace had been with say Marco or Thatch, he still considered him to be a dear friend. As such, he _wished_ that they were parting from each other on better circumstances.

Sadly though, they didn't seem to be that lucky and while the acknowledgement of that hurt more than Ace could ever say, it was something he was beginning to accept.

After all, his death might be upon him, but hey, a person's gotta die sometime, right? Mulling this over in his head, Ace allowed the demon guard to replace his chains for a pair of seastone cuffs.

Standing from where he had sat for weeks, Ace couldn't help the hiss as the muscles in his legs screamed in protest at the sudden change in position. Ignoring his body's discomfort, Ace stepped towards the entrance of his cell before he stopped.

"See yah, Jinbei," Ace muttered quietly, not having the strength to look back towards his friend and see the signs of pain and grief that would no doubt be there.

However, Jinbei's stricken voice gave it all away. " _Goodbye_ , Ace-kun."

With that final word, Ace was forcefully dragged from his cell and hauled towards the elevator that would lead him and the guards out of level six. When they finally reached the large contraption, Ace felt his mind begin to wander, unable to stop himself from contemplating who exactly the present would be.

Would it be some low-level pirate who he had never heard of? Or perhaps it would be someone with a smidgen of fame that Ace would be able to recall from during his time as a free pirate.

Not that it would matter much in the end who the guards chose. After all, Ace had already decided he would just let the person, whoever they were, die from the drug.

So he really doubted that they'd pair him with someone that would make him change his decision. Still, that didn't stop him from being curious about who they'd be paring him with.

When the elevator finally came to a screeching halt, Ace was jarred from his thoughts as he took in the sight of level one. Since his time there had been brief, Ace could only vaguely recall being stripped of his remaining possessions before being shoved into a rather _cozy_ pot of boiling water.

After that, he had been dragged down to his main cell in level six and after experiencing that kind of hell, it was hard to feel anything akin to fear on level one.

As such, while the guards led him through this rather calm level, Ace simply let his mind go blank as he passed by dozens of cells until he came to what he guessed would be his own.

Unlike some of the other cells of Impel Down, this one simply seemed to be a room with four solid walls and a thick steel door. Though, Ace didn't doubt that once he was inside it would feel as cold and dark as the other cells.

Watching as the guards unlocked the round door, Ace was roughly shoved inside before he was pushed towards the back of the room where more chains hung from the wall. Not bothering to struggle, Ace allowed the guards to replace his cuffs with the seastone chains before he took a seat on the cold stone floor.

"There, all nice and confined. Won't be long now until your _present_ arrives, and then it's off to the execution platform for you!" the guard hissed before kicking the space next to Ace's head.

Being used to this, Ace didn't even flinch, which made the guard frown in obvious disappointment.

Looking away from the pissed off guard who was now digging in his pants pocket for something, Ace took the chance to take in his new surroundings. As far as cell sizes go, this one was a little on the smaller end of the spectrum and only had a single light that hung from the ceiling.

Other than that, not far from where he was now chained, Ace could see a small metal plate with a loop in it's center attached to the floor. From the looks of it, a chain could be easily attached to it.

By that logic, Ace would bet a lot of money that that was where his partner would be placed.

"Well, it looks like the others finally found your present, Fire Fist," the guard informed, stuffing the small transponder snail back into his pocket before he and his partner stepped towards the cell door. "We hope you like them, they sure were hard to catch!"

With that final word, the guards exited the cell but not before turning off the light and locking the door, trapping Ace in darkness once more.

Ace tried to ignore what the guard had just said, but he couldn't help the feeling of dread and apprehension that sat in the pit of his stomach. Who exactly had been so hard to catch?

Shaking his head, Ace eyes slowly adjusted again to the lack of lighting. Eyeing his new chains that were surprisingly free of blood, he moved his arms to see just how far he could pull them.

Instead of stopping a few millimeters from the wall like his other chains had, Ace could stretch these ones all the way out in front of him and he could even crawl forward on his knees towards the metal plate. Honestly he was kinda surprised that the guards were allowing him so much freedom to move, especially with his execution so close at hand.

Although, it probably wasn't all _that_ surprising. After all, if his chains didn't allow a decent amount of movement, how in the hell was he supposed to fuck the other prisoner? Settling back against the cool wall, Ace released a tired sigh as he prepared himself for what was coming.

Sure, he was nervous and sickened about what was going to happen once the guards deposited Ace's _present_ in the room, but it wasn't like he had to do anything but look. Who knew, maybe it'll be entertaining to watch the other person die.

It had to be somewhat entertaining if people around the world were going to be watching his _own_ death.

Allowing himself to think about this and his sad fate, Ace lost track of how much time had passed until his ears caught the muffled sounds of people walking. As they got closer to his cell, Ace could finally make out some of their conversation and what he heard made the little hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

 _What did they just say?_

Before Ace could even contemplate what he had heard any further, his cell door was slammed open and the light flicked on. Unprepared for the brightness of it, Ace gave a pained hiss before shutting his eyes to shield them from the blinding light.

While his eyes were closed, Ace listened to the familiar sounds of chains being secured before his eyes had stopped hurting enough for him to try and open them. He choked at what he saw.

 _No. This can't be happening; it can't be real!_

" _Luffy_!" Ace didn't want to believe it, yet there he was; his little brother, battered and chained on the floor in front of him. This had to be some hellish _nightmare_ meant to fuck with his mind.

Luffy couldn't actually be _there_ , drugged and captured for the purpose of being Ace's _sex_ toy.

What the hell were the guards even thinking!? Surely they knew by now that Ace and Luffy called each other brother. A person would think that if that were the case then they _must_ be related!

So why the _fuck_ did they choose Luffy to be Ace's partner?!

Was it because they knew how precious Luffy was to him? Was this all some messed up way of making Ace choose whether to save his brother or let him die?

It was _sick_. Luffy was his little brother and yet these twisted fucks expected Ace to have _sex_ with him. It didn't matter that they weren't technically related by blood; Ace had always considered Luffy to be family. However, Ace had gone through all of this hell so that he could _save_ Luffy. If he chose to not have sex with him then he'd basically be _killing_ him and that was far worse.

Noticing Ace's turmoil, the guards laughed before heading towards the door. "Enjoy!" they laughed before slamming the door closed and locking it.

How could he possibly _enjoy_ this! He was going to have to fuck his younger brother who had been drugged and obviously couldn't _consent_ to what Ace would have to do to him. Basically, it meant that Ace would be _raping_ Luffy and that thought alone made Ace feel almost violently ill. However, if Ace didn't cure Luffy of the drug, then someone _else_ just might.

After all, Ace had heard about some of the chaos Luffy had caused for the Marines so it was very likely that they'd want to torture Luffy before killing him. As such, Ace doubted that they'd allow Luffy to die from a _mere_ drug.

However, if Ace saved Luffy from this, then he would be exposed to the even _worse_ horrors of Impel Down. By that logic, wouldn't it be better if Ace let Luffy die now? At least then he'd be with Ace and wouldn't have to be tortured as Ace had. . . .

Yet, Ace couldn't bring himself to do that. If there was a chance he could continue to protect Luffy and keep him alive, then Ace would do just that.

Though, that didn't change how he felt towards this situation.

Letting out a shaky breath, Ace's body shook slightly, causing his chains to rattle; the sound catching Luffy's attention.

Struggling against the seastone collar around his neck, Luffy turned his flushed face towards him. " _Ace_!" Luffy called weakly, his body shaking. "I . . . found . . . you," he mumbled before breaking off into a pathetic whimper, gasping as he clawed at the floor.

Ace couldn't help but choke at what he was seeing. The drug was no doubt causing Luffy a lot of pain and doing who knows what else to his small body. Ace needed to hurry and cancel out the drug before it caused any more damage.

"Luffy," Ace muttered back, licking his suddenly dry lips as his heart and stomach twisted in nervousness for what he was about to do; for what he was about to _force_ onto Luffy. "I-I'm going to have to do something to you, alright? Do you understand? It'll help make you feel better."

"Hnn," Luffy moaned and Ace just hoped that it was meant as a yes.

* * *

 **Next chapter should be released sometime on 9/4/16 and then I'll be taking my break.**

 **Comments are much appreciated!**


	10. Conception

**Thanks again for all the favorites and follows~ See you all after my break!**

 **Chapter summary: Luffy meets Ace again and not in the way either of them expected.**

* * *

 _ **A short while before.**_

Luffy didn't remember falling asleep but with his sore body relaxed and his mind so wonderfully calm, he didn't particularly mind. Giving a pleased hum, Luffy was just about to let himself slip into unconsciousness again when he felt a sharp, jabbing sting come from his left arm.

With a pained cry, Luffy's body flinched as his eyes flew open, the expressive brown orbs burning in confusion and hurt. Looking down, Luffy couldn't help but jolt away from the needle that was slowly pulling away, it's sharp point gleaming threateningly in the harsh light.

Hearing a snicker, the young pirate captain jerked his head up and locked eyes with his captor, or more accurately, _captors_ ; four guards of Impel Down.

Each of their faces were twisted with almost _pleased_ smirks as the man nearest him stepped away, a syringe and a small bottle that read, 'HM-36', in his gloved hands.

Glaring at the four men, Luffy rubbed at his injured arm while they just chuckled back at him. "What's so funny?" Luffy snapped, fully prepared to send these pompous pricks flying.

Giving another harsh laugh, the man nearest the door stepped forward to where Luffy sat on the ground before crouching so that they were at eye level.

"We're laughing 'cause we _caught_ you!" the guard sang, his gloved hand reaching out to grab something that was around Luffy's neck.

Looking down, Luffy couldn't help but shiver as he realized that they had placed a seastone collar around his neck. He would be practically powerless against them now, but that didn't mean he wouldn't put up a fight!

His eyes blazing in determination, Luffy glared back at his captors. They may have caught him but they still had a long way to go until they defeated him. Nothing would stop him from completely his mission, not even this.

"Ah, look at the fire in his eyes. I bet he thinks he can escape." Another guard smirked, crossing his arms over his chest.

The guard on his left chuckled at that. "Won't be long now until a whole _new_ kind of fire is burning in him."

"What fire?" Luffy demanded, his body slowly starting to feel warm. It almost felt like he was back on level three again.

"Ha, you'll see. I'm sure you're already beginning to feel the drugs effects," the guard who had injected Luffy said as he put away the bottle and syringe.

 _Drug?_ Luffy thought to himself. Was that what they had given to him? But why? They had already chained him with seastone, as was evident by the collar and cold shackles around his wrists. There was no need to drug him, so why? It didn't make any sense!

Just as he was about to ask the guards this, Luffy suddenly felt his head grow dizzy as the heat from before grew into an intense fever, enveloping his body and muddled mind.

It felt as though a liquid fire was coursing through his veins; warming his skin until a deep red flush enveloped it.

Immediately, he gave a pained groan, curling in on himself as his body quivered in this strange feeling of pain and heat.

He didn't like it! His body had already felt weak from the seastone but with only that he could have _tried_ to get away. Now with the added effects of whatever drug they had given him, Luffy couldn't even do _that_ anymore.

"Looks like he's ready guys," the guard nearest Luffy said. "Come on and help me move him."

Weak and regrettably helpless, all Luffy could do was moan pitifully as the guards grabbed his flushed body, their harsh touches feeling surprisingly good on his heated skin.

Despite this, he still desperately wanted to struggle, to fight, to do _anything_ but this! He needed to go and find where they had taken Ace! He didn't have time to play prisoner when Ace could already be heading to Marineford!

However, Luffy's body refused to follow any of his sluggish minds commands. As such, all Luffy could do was watch as the guards dragged him out of the room and towards the unknown fate that awaited him.

Fortunately, it wasn't long until the guards finally stopped in front of a large barred door, most likely the entrance to where Luffy would be kept.

Watching as the guards pulled open the thick cell door, Luffy hissed in pain as he was thrown harshly into the room where his weak body promptly fell to the floor. Before he could try to get away, however, one of the guards gripped tightly onto his hair before slamming his head into the stone ground.

Crying out, Luffy stayed still as he waited for the throbbing pain to subside. This allowed the guards ample time to quickly secure him to the metal plate they had shoved him on before they pulled away.

"Enjoy!" they laughed, to whom Luffy wasn't sure, before they slammed the door closed, locking Luffy inside.

Seeing that the guards were finally gone, Luffy caught the sounds of chains moving before he heard a surprised gasp from his left side.

" _Luffy_!"

Hearing the choked sound of his name, Luffy shivered as his fogged mind realized just _who_ that voice belong to. Trying the best that he could, Luffy lifted his heavy head and turned to look.

It was almost too good to be true.

" _Ace_!" Luffy cried, struggling to turn and fully look at the man he had been searching for. Who knew that all he had to do was get _captured_ to find Ace! "I. . . found . . . you," he finally managed before letting out a whimper that sounded pathetic, even to his own ears, as fierce shudder wracked through his body.

Somehow, the heat was becoming _worse_ and try as he might to fight it, it was simply no use. Whatever they had used on him was potent and was completely encompassing him. It was so _hot,_ unbearingly so and it made Luffy cry out that much more.

He had never been one to be able to withstand high temperatures, and now that he was weak, it made this fever at least a hundred times _worse_.

He wanted it to go away, for _someone_ to make him feel better, but the words wouldn't come. His mind could barely process what was happening to him and his tongue felt as heavy as a brick.

There was _no_ way he could tell Ace what was wrong, not with his body and mind in such a wrecked state.

Perhaps if he only had one or the other to deal with, but with his body practically _scorching_ and his head so heavy, Luffy was at a loss. Frustrated by this, Luffy couldn't help the angry tears that were building up in his eyes as the heat near his bottom grew worse with each passing second.

If he had been able to, Luffy would have simply reached a hand back there to see why it was hurting so bad but just the _thought_ of moving anymore made him groan weakly.

"Luffy," he heard Ace mutter before clearing his throat. "I-I'm going to have to do something to you, alright? Do you understand? It'll help make you feel better."

"Hnn," Luffy groaned, happy to hear that Ace knew that something was wrong and was going to fix it.

Honestly, as long as Ace kept his word, Luffy was more than willing for him to do _whatever_ he wanted, just so long as he _stopped_ the burning.

Watching eagerly as Ace shuffled forward on his knees towards him, Luffy couldn't help the moan that slipped past his lips as Ace grabbed onto his hips to pull Luffy's pliant body towards him. Unable to help the shiver of anticipation that ran through his body, Luffy wiggled his hips, trying to get Ace to understand that _that_ was where the most pain was.

However, it seemed that Ace hadn't gotten Luffy's hint as his wonderfully cool hands pulled away from Luffy's hips and up along his sides.

Still, Ace's touch felt to tantalizingly _good_ , far better than the guards gloved touches had felt, so Luffy didn't mind that Ace had ignored his butt in favor of stopping some of the other pain, and with each hesitant caress, it was all Luffy could do to keep his body stable enough so that Ace could keep making the pain go away.

He never knew that another person's touch could bring so much pleasure! Or perhaps, it wasn't simply another _person's_ touch but the fact that it was Ace's that was making it so amazing.

Luffy wasn't sure and in all honesty, he didn't really care. Right now he just wanted Ace to touch him more and that's what he got when Ace's large hands finally slipped underneath Luffy's yellow vest.

Moaning, Luffy pressed against them as they traveled up towards his chest, halting before they could touch his nipples.

Unable to help the needy whine the pushed past his chapped lips when Ace stopped, Luffy struggled as he moved his own hand to touch Ace's, who flinched at the touch. Paying no mind, too caught up in trying to get Ace to continue, Luffy guided Ace's left hand up until one of his fingers flicked across the hardened bud of Luffy's nipple.

Unable to help the choked scream that escaped at the touch, Luffy gasped as Ace _finally_ caught on and with his skillful fingers, continued to rub and tease rosy bud, hiss blunt nails flicking across each nipple before his soft fingertips gently circled them until finally giving each a teasing _pinch_.

" _Ah_!" It was sudden, but oh so good, and Luffy quickly voiced his approval with another moan as his knees buckled dangerously underneath him.

He never knew pleasure like _this_ , something so hot and overpowering, as it travel down his belly and towards his crotch. It was taking away some of the pain but down _there_ still burned.

Whimpering as the pain grew worse near his butt, Luffy bit at his lips as tears began to spill down his flushed cheeks.

Why wasn't it getting _better_?!

"Ace, _please_!" Luffy cried, pressing his ass to where Ace stood behind him, desperate to get his point across.

When he did this, Luffy was startled when Ace's grip on his body suddenly tightened to an almost painful degree. Hearing a low growl come from Ace, Luffy shivered when his older brother's hands moved back down his sides until they reached his shorts.

Too quick for Luffy to really catch, his shorts were suddenly gone, fully exposing himself to Ace. However, the cool air of the cell made him feel too good to even feel the slightest of embarrassment.

Wiggling his hips in encouragement, Luffy turned his head slightly, curious to see what Ace would do to him next now that he knew where most of the pain was coming from. He just wasn't prepared for the heated look that his older brother sent him.

His eyes, usually filled with a loving warmth or an exciting thirst for adventure, were now dark with something entirely _new_ , something that _screamed_ of a hot and aching desire. But for what?

Right now, Ace's dark gaze was locked onto _Luffy,_ so what—

— _Oh_. . . . Luffy thought to himself. _He wants me._

Shivering as he realized this, Luffy couldn't help but turn away as the flush on his body seemed to spread even further.

He didn't understand! Why was Ace looking at him like _that_? He had never looked at him that way before so why now? However, before Luffy could contemplate it more, Ace hands were on him again and he simply stopped caring.

Moaning again at the touch, Luffy felt Ace pull at the round globes of his ass, exposing his burning hole to Ace's view. _Finally_ Ace was going to relieve where most of the pain was coming from.

Lifting his ass higher so that Ace wouldn't pull away again, Luffy gasped when a long finger slipped past the first few rings of muscle and deeper into the heat of his ass.

" _Ngh!"_ Luffy groaned as he pushed back into it, wanting Ace to push his finger deeper inside him as the pain in his rear finally started to ebb away into pleasure.

One finger wasn't enough to satisfy Luffy's greedy hole, he _needed_ more and more is what Ace gave as he quickly added two more fingers, beginning to scissor Luffy's entrance.

 _Yes, yes, yes_! Were all Luffy could think as begging cries that _desperately_ wanted more of Ace slipped past his lips as he rocked his tired body into Ace's fingers.

It was amazing, and far better than those simple touches Ace had only _minutes_ before done to him but he still wanted _more_ , more of Ace; more of this man who meant so much to him! Unfortunately, though, Luffy's tongue was too heavy to voice this aching need.

As such, when Ace's fingers pulled away with a wet sounding pop, Luffy couldn't help the pathetic whine that escaped past his trembling lips. How could Ace _do_ that to him; it was just too cruel!

He wanted to beg Ace not to stop, to keep doing what he was doing but it looked like Ace had _other_ intentions.

Watching rather eagerly as Ace finally pulled down his own shorts, Luffy's hungry gaze locked onto Ace's large, bulging cock; dark curls curling around it's base.

It was flushed an angry red and looked as inflamed like Luffy's was now as a clear, almost milky white liquid dripped down the rounded tip before continuing down the thick girth of Ace's length.

Was it _normal_ for dicks to get this hard? Luffy wasn't sure but he'd try to remember to ask Ace about it later.

Swallowing the saliva that was quickly building up in his mouth as he continued to stare at Ace's sheer girth, Luffy watched with wide eyes as he started to stroke himself, spreading the clear stuff all over before he grabbed back onto Luffy's hips in an almost bruising grip before _slamming_ inside of him.

It was sudden and Luffy hadn't been prepared for the immediate _fullness_ that overtook him as Ace's hot cock stretched and filled him to the brim. He couldn't even _breathe_ as his body shook under the strain of it all before he arched his back with a broken sob.

It was all too much and yet . . . he _never_ wanted it to end.

Feeling Ace's large hands grip painfully tight around him again, Luffy whimpered quietly as tears continued to spill past his eyes and down his rosy cheeks.

The pleasure was just so _intense_ and he couldn't help but cry out again when he felt Ace slowly pull out of him before giving a squeak when Ace pushed back inside with a husky groan of his own.

As Ace continued to repeat this, spreading Luffy open before he shoved his deliciously large cock back into Luffy's quivering hole, he eventually started a slow pace, one that Luffy couldn't but help feel grateful towards.

He was certain that if Ace even went just a _little_ faster, he would no longer be conscious.

Luffy was already consumed by wonderful euphoria as his flushed, quivering body jerked against the stone floor in time with Ace's powerful thrusts, a wet slap echoing along with their cries. He knew that anything more would send him over the edge faster than he already was.

As such, it wasn't long after that both males were coming undone; Ace filling Luffy with a shout as Luffy's toes curled when a bright light flashed against his eyes as something hot spilled out of his dick.

Gasping as his body shook from the aftermath, Luffy couldn't help but shudder as he felt something warm dribble down his cheeks that Ace's spent cock was still in between.

Glancing underneath his raised belly, Luffy watched as the same type of liquid that was coming from his butt continued to drip down the tip of his dick. _Huh?_

Before Luffy could voice his question about this strange substance, Ace suddenly pulled out, causing Luffy to let out a pitiful whine at the sudden empty feeling he was left with. After experiencing that wonderful fullness, it felt _wrong_ to be empty again. He didn't like it.

However, whatever Ace had done _had_ successfully made Luffy feel better, in fact, he could already feel the overwhelming heat leaving his exhausted body. Which meant that his mind was much clearer now and he could finally begin to process something _very_ important as Ace put both of their shorts back on.

"Ngh. . . _Ace_?" Luffy groaned, letting his weak body slump against the ground as he turned his still slightly flushed face towards the almost _worried_ gaze of Ace.

"Yeah, Luffy?" Ace replied, his voice sounding rough and trained with emotions that Luffy was having a hard time identifying.

Despite this, Luffy felt his heart swell with an overwhelming _love_ as he gazed at Ace; the one most precious to him, and the one he had been searching for for so long.

It felt _amazing_ to finally be able to see Ace, to be close enough to _touch_ him, to feel his warmth and beating heart.

It was something he never wanted to be again without. "I found you," Luffy whispered again with a tired, yet utterly _pleased_ smile as Ace gave a wet chuckle in return.

"Yeah, yeah you did." Ears catching the obvious pain in his brother's voice, Luffy tried to sit up to move towards him but the sudden movement caused a sharp pain to erupt from his hips and with a hiss, Luffy's body stilled.

So, he couldn't go and hug his brother, that didn't mean he couldn't comfort him. "Ace, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Luffy asked in genuine concern.

Ace was silent for a moment as a shaky hand covered his eyes before he turned his face away from Luffy's worried gaze. "Yeah. . . I'm fine, Lu."

Luffy shook his head, knowing that Ace was lying as he caught the sight of what had to be tears pouring down Ace's freckled cheeks. "No you're not! You're crying!" he snapped back, worry encasing his heart.

Ace _never_ cried. Even when their deceased brother Sabo died, Luffy never _once_ saw Ace shed a single tear, so if he was crying now, then something had to be _seriously_ wrong.

"I told you I'm fine, Luffy! Just let it go!" Ace snarled back, still refusing to face Luffy head on.

Luffy wanted to fight him on it, because it was obvious, even to him, that Ace was upset in some way.

Nevertheless, Luffy hadn't wanted to argue with Ace when he saw his beloved older brother again. God, Ace was still scheduled for _execution_! Luffy didn't want to waste the time they had fighting with each other.

"Fine, but you would tell me if you're hurting, right?" Luffy could hear himself ask. He couldn't help it, he would let this issue go, but not before knowing whether Ace felt that he could come to Luffy for help.

They were brothers after all, they should be able to depend on one another, no matter what.

"Yeah, of course," Ace responded, his face, etched with pain, finally meeting Luffy's own.

"Good!" Luffy smiled, even though somewhere in his heart he felt as though Ace were lying.

Ace nodded, the pain slowly leaving his face. Seeing this, Luffy couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up in his throat.

"Shishishi! I'm so happy that I finally found you, Ace!" Giggling some more, Luffy grinned up towards his brother who was now giving a smile of his own.

"Yeah, I'm glad too, Lu," Ace confessed, a tired smile falling onto his face.

"Ne, Ace don't look so glum! I'm here now to help break you out!" Luffy exclaimed, yanking against his seastone collar before it's power made him slump against the ground again.

It looked like now that the drug was out of his system, the seastone's effects were finally having a more severe effect on him. Glancing up, Luffy watched sluggishly as Ace's eyes widened before he gave out an almost . . . _hysterical_ sounding laugh.

"Do you _actually_ think you have any chance of helping me escape!? Look at where we are Luffy! We're both in chains and locked away! Are you really that stupid to think you can actually help me?" Ace yelled, pulling at his restraints as to further his point.

"It's not stupid! At least I got this far, didn't I!? Why shouldn't I be able to save you too!"

"Because, you idiot! You're as helpless as I am right now and the only way you could possibly save either of us is by some miracle that just _isn't_ going to happen!" Frowning, Luffy glared at the equally seething Ace before glaring at the chains that bound him.

Ace might have had a point about Luffy being . . . _helpless_ right now but that didn't mean that Luffy wouldn't be able to save him. After all, Luffy still had Iva-chan, didn't he?

Just as Luffy was about to explain this fact to his brother, the young captain caught the sounds of fast approaching footsteps and for a second, thought that these sounds were from his friends coming to the rescue. . . .

Oh how wrong he was.

With a harsh slam, the door of their cell opened, revealing a large group of guards, not the okama Luffy had been hoping for.

"Alright, Fire Fist, now that you got your _present_ , it's time to go," a guard informed, stepping inside while the others swarmed the cell's door, what had to be a minorhinoceros standing nearby them.

"Yeah, once the Warden gets here, we'll be hauling you out," another guard added as the other began to replace Ace's chains with seastone cuffs.

 _Wait!_ This couldn't happen right now! Not after Luffy had made it this far, was _this_ close to saving Ace.

If they just waited a bit longer, Luffy was sure that Iva-chan would be there to unlock their chains, just _wait_!

However, the guards made no move to stop Ace's extraction to the Navy ship that was no doubt waiting outside these cell walls to take him to Marineford. It was all happening too fast and Luffy couldn't _breathe_!

Ace wasn't even doing anything! Why wasn't he fighting to escape!? They were almost out and yet Ace couldn't even meet Luffy's panicked gaze and was instead staring at the floor that was stained in sweat and their release.

"S- _stop_ —you can't take him!" Luffy cried, trying to get his body to move but it was useless against the seastone collar.

The guards only laughed before kicking him in the face with enough force to throw Luffy's head back against the floor, the sound of his skull meeting stone echoing harshly after.

"Luffy!" Ace yelled, seeming to finally snap out of whatever daze he had been in.

"Ugh, wait!" Groaning, Luffy shakily reached a hand out as Ace was forcefully dragged out of the cell and further away from him. This wasn't suppose to _happen_!

Luffy had almost rescued him, Ace couldn't be taken away now!

 _Stop it!_

 _Stop it!_

" _STOP IT!_ " With a resounding roar, Luffy was vaguely aware of a strong pulse coming from his body before he watched the guards, one by one, fall to the floor in an unconscious heap; Ace and the minorhinoceros the only ones left standing.

All Luffy could process was that this was their chance! If Ace could defeat the minorhinoceros before the other guards came, he could get away!

Luffy didn't care at this point if he himself were released, he just wanted Ace out of this prison, _free_ , before anything else happened.

However, before Ace could land more than a single, harsh blow to the beast's head, the one person Luffy had _absolutely_ not wanted to see again, showed up.

"What is going on here!" Magellan roared, a fleet of trident wielding guards behind him with a blonde women by his side.

"Ugh, Warden," one of the guards groaned as he and the others slowly came to.

Stepping towards them, Magellan peered into Luffy's cell as Ace started to fight the new guards.

Even though he was chained, Ace was still managing to beat them, even managing to steal one of their tridents with his teeth! While he was of course impressed by this, Luffy more happy to see that Ace still had the will to fight. It meant he hadn't completely given up on being saved just yet.

"Ah, you again," the Warden muttered, his dark eyes falling onto Luffy's disheveled form, letting Ace continue to fight his personnel. "You may have gotten away once, but I assure you that will not happen this time." With that he turned away and towards where Ace was fighting.

Before Luffy could warn Ace, Magellan had forced him to the ground. Yet, even then, Ace continued to struggle; snarling back at Magellan as he tried to force himself free.

"Stop fighting, Fire First! Did you forget that we have your _defenseless_ younger brother right there?" Magellan warned, turning Ace's frightened face towards Luffy. "I could easily kill him but if you stop, I will spare him," Magellan added, Ace's body slumping at the words.

"No, Ace run away! Don't listen to him!" Luffy yelled, watching with wide eyes as Ace simply allowed himself to be restrained again.

Standing up, Magellan turned back towards Luffy. "Take _him_ down to level 2 until I'm finished with this," Magellan ordered the guards.

"Level 2? Pardon me, Warden, but shouldn't Straw Hat be sent down to level six? After all, he has a bounty of five billion berry,"

"Normally, yes. However, there are riots currently going on down in the lower levels and until those can be taken care of, it is safer to keep him up on level 2."

"Yes, sir!" the guards yelled before two of them grabbed another pair of seastone handcuffs from their belt and stepped towards Luffy.

Still shocked over Ace's surrender, Luffy did nothing to stop the guards and with a harsh click, the handcuffs were around his wrists and the collar unlatched.

Hissing at the chill that enveloped him once more, Luffy flinched when he was pulled up by his hair to stand on his shaky legs.

"Don't _touch_ him!" Ace growled, jerking against the guards who held him.

"Silence! It is time to go Fire Fist, say goodbye to your brother, this will be the last time you see him," Magellan spoke, looking down at the pair of them.

"No, it isn't! I'll save you, Ace, I promise!" Luffy swore as he was dragged out of his cell and towards the stairway that would lead him down towards the lower levels of Impel Down.

It was hard to tell what Ace thought of this promise as he looked down and away from Luffy's desperate gaze. However, when Ace finally looked up again, his expression revealed nothing but a deep, soul wrenching _sorrow_.

"I love you, Luffy." Breath catching in his throat, Luffy felt tears well up in his eyes as he watched Ace, his most beloved person in the entire world, be pulled away from him.

Luffy never wanted this and he would be damned if he let it happened but. . . right now he couldn't do anything but watch as Ace was lead over to the doors that would separate him from Luffy.

" _ACE_!" Luffy cried again, his weak body trying the best it could to try and rip it's way out of the guards harsh grip, "This isn't goodbye, I'll see you again soon! Just hang tight a little while longer and then I will save you, okay!"

Shoulders jerking, Ace's body slouched before his back straightened again, as if he had come to a decision and was determined to carry it out.

"Okay."

With that final remark, Ace was lead outside the opening doors and towards the place he would either meet his end, or a second chance at a life he never knew if he deserved.

All Luffy could do was hope that he got there it time to help lead Ace down the path towards life.

As the young pirate captain contemplated this, he barely noticed that soon, he and the guards had arrived at level two and were making their way towards what would no doubt be Luffy's new cell until further notice.

Opening a door to a surprisingly _vacant_ cell, the guards threw Luffy inside before latching the door shut and departing.

Letting his body slump against the cool stone wall, Luffy's mind raced as he tried to figure out a way out of this situation and back to his brothers side. However, the only solution that was coming to him was that Iva-chan would need to help him, but Luffy had no idea where the Miracle Worker was!

That meant that sadly, Luffy was back to waiting, which meant thinking and he _absolutely_ didn't want to think right now. That would mean contemplating what was going on with Ace and all the things that would happen if Luffy didn't hurry and get out of this hell.

 _Dammit!_ Luffy thought to himself. _Where is Iva-chan?_

* * *

 **Comments are appreciated!**


	11. Gather the Witnesses

**_Well, where do I begin? First off, I can't even begin to apologize for how late this chapter is. My life quickly got worse once I started my break, which included 1) my grandma being admitted to the hospital, 2) my dad suffering a severe enough eye infection that required him to have his cornea replaced, 3) thus he was under my care for a whole month, 4) school and a new job kicked my ass, and finally 5) my mom has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer._**

 ** _All together it caused me to basically stop writing as I tried to get my life back under control. However, things are still pretty shaky now that my mom has cancer and I can't devote as much time as I want to this story. Nevertheless, I will (slowly) keep updating and I hope all of you can forgive me._**

 ** _Anyway, please enjoy this chapter!_**

 ** _Chapter summary: A view from Marineford and aboard the Moby Dick._**

* * *

 ** _Darkness and I are one, and wind_ **_  
_**_And nagging thunder, brothers all,_ **_  
_**_My Mother was a storm I call_ **_  
_**_And shorten your way with speed to me_ **_  
_**_I am Love and Hate and the terrible mind_ **_  
_**_Of vicious gods, but more am I_ **_  
_**_I am the pride in the lover's eye_ ****_  
__I am the epic of the sea._**

 ** _"War" by Francis Ledwidge_**

 ** _Marineford_**

He had always known that out of all the possible careers he could have chosen, being a marine would be the most dangerous. After all, when you are a part of the Navy, it isn't _if_ you will be faced with danger, it's _when_.

Coby had always understood that fact and yet he still had decided to pursue this path. Sure, it had only been after a _pirate_ had inspired him to do so, but still.

He had always _dreamed_ of becoming a marine, someone honest, good, and _brave_ ; a person that people could count on to protect them. So after meeting Luffy, a pirate that went against all he had assumed about pirates, Coby finally made the leap and became a marine.

Strange, he knew. After all, who becomes inspired to become a marine after making friends with a pirate? But Luffy, regardless of his pirate status, had inspired and pushed Coby to finally take the jump and pursue his long time dream.

Of course, it hadn't been easy but thanks to the help of Helmeppo and Garp-san's . . . _dedicated_ teachings, Coby accomplished his goal.

However, he was ashamed to admit that through his months of training he had forgotten what awaited him when he was finished.

Being a marine, it was _expected_ that he was supposed to fight and capture pirates, even ones like Luffy who actually _helped_ people.

That of course meant he would have to battle many people of varying levels of strength and while Coby eventually remembered this fact, he had never realized that he would have to participate in something much more extreme.

More precisely, Coby _never_ , not in his wildest dreams, expected that one day he would be expected to fight in a _war._

An actual all out war, filled with violence and death.

As soon as he had gotten the news that Portgas D. Ace, second division commander of the Whitebeard pirates, had been captured and scheduled for execution, he knew what was coming.

After all, you didn't just go and _kill_ one of the members of the so called Strongest Man in the World's crew and get away scot-free.

There would be severe repercussions for what they did and that meant war was upon them.

That's why days, _weeks_ , since Portgas D. Ace had been sent to Impel Down, everyone at Marineford had been preparing for what surely was to come on the day of Fire Fist's execution. Despite that however, with only perhaps an hour or two remaining before war would no doubt break out, Coby _still_ wasn't ready.

For all his training and will, he couldn't escape his natural instincts to _flee_ rather than stay and fight.

Sure, he knew that this basic instinct of his made him a coward but as much as he wished he could be as brave as the hundreds of other soldiers who were in the exact same position as he was, Coby couldn't help but want to curl into a ball and hide.

Hell, maybe if he was lucky and he willed it hard enough, he could simply disappear before the battle started . . . of course, when was he ever lucky?

"Ah, there you are." Coby's head jerked up from where it had been buried in his knees as he looked up at Helmeppo who stood calmly in the doorway of their quarters. "We've been ordered to go and double check that the ammunition is fully stocked."

Forcing his still trembling hands away from his mussed pink hair, Coby _willed_ his body to stop shaking. "I-I see, you can go ahead and wait outside . . . I'll be with you in a minute," Coby said, turning his face away.

He could just imagine what he must look like to Helmeppo, pale faced and curled into a ball in the corner of their shared room. Under his scrutinizing gaze, it made Coby feel like even more of a pathetic coward. He wished that Helmeppo would just hurry up and leave Coby to his fear and anxiety already. At least if he was alone he wouldn't have to feel judged.

However, as Helmeppo closed the door and stepped further into the darkened room, Coby knew that he wasn't going away anytime soon.

Taking a seat beside him on the cold floor, Helmeppo sighed quietly as he stretched his long legs out in front of him.

"You know . . . I've been feeling pretty scared about all of this," Helmeppo confessed, sparing a glance towards Coby's stiff form.

Not believing his ears, Coby turned to fully face his friend. "You—you're just saying that to make me feel like less of a coward."

At this, Helmeppo gave a dry laugh before he took Coby's hand in his own. While Coby was surprised by this action, he couldn't help but gasp as he felt his friend's shake in his own.

"You're actually scared too," Coby stated in awe, watching closely as small tremors ran through both of their intertwined fingers.

"Of course! That's what I've been saying!" Helmeppo said, shaking his head at him.

Coby couldn't help but simply blink at that as he stared back at Helmeppo who did the same to him.

"But—" Coby began, biting his already thoroughly gnawed lip. "We're _m_ _arines_ , doesn't that mean we have to be brave?" It was practically spelled out for them in the handbook after all.

"Sure, but that doesn't mean we can't be scared too," Helmeppo admitted, pushing himself up to stand and pulling Coby up with him. "It just means that when we're scared and we still choose to do the right thing, it makes us even braver."

"Oh," Coby breathed in surprise, having not expected his friend's seemingly obvious explanation.

Thinking about it this way, it all seemed so simple. After all, ever since he had met Luffy and Helmeppo, he had always been facing his fears, regardless of how terrified he was because he had something he wanted to accomplish.

Why should now be any different?

At least now he wouldn't be fighting alone and he'd have his friend and comrades by his side, facing the danger together.

When he thought of it like that, maybe the hours to come wouldn't be so frightening after all.

"You're right, let's go!"

 ** _The Moby Dick_**

If she were being completely honest, Hannah could never, not _once_ in all her twenty-eight years understand why people thought appearances were so damn important.

Why men and women alike would go to great lengths (for some, even at the cost of their lives) to make it appear at least, that they were stronger or better than they themselves thought, she would never know.

To her, this illogical act was simply unfathomable and she could never see herself partake in the facade. . . . That is at least, not _willingly_.

One such case was with the Whitebeard pirates, the crew that she was proud to be apart of. After all, she was a member of a strong family and was tasked with one of the most important jobs on a crew; looking after Edward Newgate's health.

More specifically, she was one of Whitebeard's six nurses and that meant it was her job to look after and care for her captain.

However, much to her confusion, it also meant that she had to wear a light-pink dress with thigh-high leopard print boots. Understandably, this was not the most . . . _comfortable_ attire to work in.

Nevertheless, she put up with it despite her constant urge not to, because if it made her captain happy than she could deal with it. Besides, it wasn't as if this was her ship to control.

Though, there were times when the dress rode up to much or the heals pinched her feet that she considered asking Whitebeard for another outfit to wear as her uniform.

Preferably one that made it easy to work in and didn't treat her like some damn eye candy.

She knew that if she did, he would no doubt comply with her wish because that was how he was. He cared for each member of the crew as if they were all his own children and was the main reason that Hannah had joined nine years ago.

Being apart of the Whitebeard crew meant being apart of a large family that would always be there for you when you needed them, which was almost like a dream for someone like Hannah whose blood family had seldom been there and the times they were, they were toxic and abusive.

Perhaps it was simply her fear of causing trouble for something so small or her desire to be strong like the other nurses (whom she had not yet heard complain about their atrocious uniforms), that kept her from speaking up.

Whatever it was, Hannah wasn't entirely sure but clothing she could overlook, _this_ however, was something she could not let slide.

"Honestly, Captain," Hannah growled, grabbing the IV's from where Whitebeard had thrown them onto the deck, "removing your IV's just so that you do not appear weak to the Marines is _completely_ idiotic!"

This marked the _fifth_ attempt by Hannah to convince her ( _stubborn, senseless, suicidal_ ) captain of this fact and with each failed attempt, they grew closer to reaching their destination of Marineford.

Already they had been sailing aboard the Moby Dick below the ocean waves, thanks to a thick bubble coating, for over _four_ hours now. It was only perhaps another hour or so before they finally arrived at the damn marine base.

That meant every single second before was crucial as it would be their last chance to make sure everything and _everyone_ was ready to save Ace.

In fact, most of the crew were still scrambling around preparing the ship for the war that would commence once they resurfaced.

Hannah knew that she should have been doing the same, like gathering medical supplies for the numerous wounded that would no doubt result in their rescue efforts, but _someone_ had to make sure that they'd still have a captain when it was all over.

"Quiet! I've already made up my mind!" Whitebeard roared, his voice a deep timber that perhaps would have shaken Hannah if she hadn't long been used to it.

"You don't think I already know that!" she responded, waving the limp IV's in her hand up at her Captain's face.

This caught his attention as he stared down at her with his damn near _humored_ gaze. Fathers sure loved riling up their children _didn't_ they.

Huffing, Hannah replaced the needles (yet again) and prepared to apply them once more to Whitebeard's muscled arms and chest. Thankfully her Captain let her place a few back on his arm, but she couldn't help but wonder for just how long before he was pulling them out again.

"You know, you should just give it up, yoi." Hearing the familiar voice of the first commander, Hannah turned her head sharply, short brown hair wiping against her cheeks, to face Marco who was slowly walking towards them.

Normally he would have flown over, transforming his arms into the brilliant blue wings of his phoenix form, but with the ship being coated with the air tight bubble right now, a single spark would spell disaster.

"Marco, I would have thought that you would be on _my_ side with issues regarding the Captain's health," Hannah said, confused and feeling a little betrayed.

Marco nodded, seeming to agree with her. "Normally, but we're headed for a war. I can see why he wouldn't want them to think that he was weak."

" _Okay_ , but shouldn't he _actually_ be up to full strength!?" Hannah asked, throwing an exasperated arm up in Whitebeard's direction. "After all, he will no doubt be fighting too, being the strongest out of all of us."

"Of course."

Hannah couldn't help but gawk at that. "Then _why_ —"

"That's why he should keep the IV's in until we reach Marineford. Once we're there I see no reason why he would need to keep them in, because it isn't as if there is a way for him to safely fight with them on," Marco explained, looking up at their Captain with a small smile.

"Gurarara!" Whitebeard laughed, startling Hannah out of her confused daze. "I suppose you are right, Marco!"

"Wha— _wait_ , so you'll keep the IV's in?" Hannah asked to confirm, looking back and forth between her smiling Captain and first mate.

"Of course, I wouldn't want to upset my children now would I?"

"Then why were you putting up such a damn fuss!" Hannah yelled, glaring daggers at Whitebeard's broad grin.

"Because, we all need to relax before we arrive. If we're too tense, we'll no doubt make mistakes and I do not want to lose any of my sons and daughters today," Whitebeard said, his smile falling as he quickly became serious.

At his serious tone and expression, Hannah couldn't help but bite her bottom lip as she gave a weak nod. "I see."

It made sense in a way, Whitebeard putting up all this rather uncharacteristic fuss over having his IV's in, after his explanation.

Usually he was pretty good about letting her and the other nurses do their job (only really putting up a fuss in front of enemies or as a joke), so his explanation made sense.

He just wanted to relieve their fears of the upcoming battle with something as mundane and normal as a squabble between he and his nurses.

Hannah just wished she had realized his plan sooner. She could have saved her vocal cords from the abuse.

Still, she wasn't about to let him get off easy!

"Just for that, you're wearing the IV's for as long as I say! If you try to fight me Captain, so help me, I'll make you regret it!" With that, Hannah quickly administered the rest of the IV's (not quite as gently as she normally would) and stalked off to help gather supplies.

As she walked away, she couldn't help but smile as she listened to the echo of her Captain's deep laugh from behind her and hope ( _pray_ ) that this wouldn't be the last time she heard it.

 _He'll survive today, he has to._


	12. His Sacrifice

**Woo! Look what I made! Lol, sorry, this chapter was giving me hell for the longest time but suddenly, a few days ago, it didn't. I hope that you all enjoy and PLEASE leave a comment to tell me what you thought of it, that way I know it isn't actually crap.**

 **Chapter Summary: They finally escape the wretched prison of Impel Down.**

* * *

Awareness came to him like the morning fog, covering him in a murky film that he couldn't shake off, dulling his senses and leaving him strangely . . . numb. It was more than a little unnerving, to suddenly be free from that _excruciating_ pain that had coursed through his damaged body, spreading like wildfire until nothing good remained.

In all honesty, Bon Clay hadn't expected to _ever_ be free from that kind of hell and yet, here he was, awake, the pain from before a mere memory now. It was a welcomed blessing, despite knowing that it marked the beginning of his end.

No doubt within the next few hours, he would be dead, Magellan's poisons finally taking hold . . . but before that, he had one last task to accomplish. He just hoped that he wasn't too late but with no knowledge of exactly how much time had passed since he passed out, Bon Clay was at a bit of a loss.

Gingerly sitting up, he moved his bandaged limbs, testing to see just how much the neurotoxins had already affected his nerves. As expected, he could no longer move as nimbly as he once did but even without that, he should be able to walk around just fine on his own. Nevertheless, he imagined that soon he'd be as stiff as a stone statue, immovable and unresponsive.

Time was ticking and he needed to get a move on.

Swinging his long legs over the side of the stone bed, it was hard for him to make out much of anything in the dimly lit room he was in. However, near the west side of the room there was a small sliver of light peeking out from what he assumed to be the bottom of the door.

Stumbling over to it like a baby foal walking for the first time, Bon Clay felt for a handle, his fingers slipping across the rough texture of wood before moving onto the cold surface of a metal ring. Giving a pull, he had to use all of his dwindling strength to open the heavy door, dulled light spilling out as he did.

In front of him was a rounded hallway carved from stone. Stepping out of the room, Bon Clay closed his eyes, trying to pick up any sound that might lead him towards his saviors and hopefully with them, answers to his many questions.

After nearly a minute of listening at the almost eerily calm silence, Bon Clay's ears finally caught the familiar sounds of people yelling. Stomach plummeting, he licked his dry lips as his thoughts flooded with possible scenarios for the cause of the disturbance.

Perhaps Luffy-chan had gotten caught, or maybe he and his brother had been killed? Of course, there was always the possibility that it wasn't yelling he was hearing, but _cheering_. Meaning that Luffy-chan _could_ have already rescued his brother and made it out of Impel Down.

But after being locked away in this hell for as long as he had, Bon Clay highly doubted that it was that. Although, there was really only one way to find out, so he started walking.

Luckily for him, he didn't have to walk too far before he reached the location of all the noise, which turned out to be frantic yelling from _okama_ of all things. Gasping at the sight of the vast array of people, Bon Clay wondered for a moment if he was actually already _dead_ and _this,_ was heaven.

However, as he caught site of the large monitors depicting familiar levels of Impel Down, Bon Clay realized that _no_ , he wasn't dead and he was in fact, still in hell and perhaps . . . he always would be.

Shaking his head to clear his darkening thoughts, Bon Clay shuffled closer. "What's going on?" he asked, catching the tattooed arm of the woman next to him. She jerked in surprise at the touch, eyeing him warily before gesturing towards the monitors.

"See for yourself." Letting his arm fall to his side, Bon Clay moved through the crowd and towards the screens that were taking up the front wall of the room. As he got closer, he began to realize _why_ the room was in such a state of hysteria.

 _Luffy-chan had been captured!_

Heart stopping, Bon Clay stumbled as his weak body shook, his wide eyes taking in the sight of his dear friend, chained and locked away. However, even though the room was dark, he could make out the form of another person in the small cell. _No, it couldn't be_.

"Is that Luffy-chan's _brother_!" Bon Clay said, pushing himself forward to get closer to the screen, not quite believing what he was seeing. His mind had to be playing tricks on him, the poison tainting his vision! How else would you explain what was going on!? Luffy-chan and Ace-chan _couldn't_ be imprisoned together!

Not bothering to turn away from the monitor, an okama dressed in fishnet stockings and a rather _flattering_ bunny costume nodded. "Yeah, that's Fire Fist. It looks like the guards are giving him _that_ ," they muttered, their voice spitting in disgust and anger.

Eyes widening, Bon Clay's mouth fell open as a gasp slipped from his lips. " _No_ , surely the guards aren't _that_ cruel!" They had to have enough morals to know that this was _beyond_ wrong; forcing two brothers in a situation where one had to fuck the other to save them from certain death.

At his statement, the okama turned their head to him, a single eyebrow raised. " _You've_ been here long enough to know just how messed up they are."

Yes . . . that was true. He had just never imagined that they could resort to such cruelty . . . but now he knew better.

"We have to rescue them!" he said, forcing his eyes back to the monitor. Already Ace-chan was moving towards his brother, his actions slow and hesitant, no doubt conflicted with what he was about to do.

" _How_? There's no way we could reach 'em in time!" a woman said, wiping around to face Bon Clay.

Glaring at the woman, Bon Clay turned his body to fully face her. "Well, we can't just sit here and do _nothing_!" At least, _he_ couldn't wait around, wasting his ever decreasing time when Luffy-chan needed his help! Whether or not the others felt the same didn't matter, because he wasn't going to abandon his friend in his time of need.

"Well said Bon boy!" Jumping slightly at the loud voice that came from behind him, Bon Clay turned around, taking in the strangely _familiar_ sight of a lavender colored afro and hot pink leather. He _swore_ that he had seen the large okama before, but where?

 _Oh_ , Bon Clay realized with a start. _He's the one who helped prolong my time!_

"Gather everyone, the time to escape is now!" the leather-clad okama said with a cry, his voice carrying over the loud voices of the other people in the room, catching their attentions immediately. Bon Clay could remember fondly when he too could command attention like that, back in Baroque Works and with his fallen crew.

"Hai, Iva-sama!" the crowd roared, rushing about to follow the command. Bon Clay couldn't help but stare in slight awe as they quickly set to work, gathering weapons and supplies to prepare for their no doubt, _grand_ escape. Perhaps _that's_ how he would help Luffy-chan, but before that, he needed to ensure that his young friend was freed was the cell he was currently chained up inside.

Standing there rather dumbly for a moment, Bon Clay snapped out of his stupor as Iva-sama began to march away, the crowd moving around him. "Eh, wait! Who are you?" Bon Clay asked, running after his unknown savior.

Hearing his plea, Iva-sama stopped in his long strides and turned around to fully face Bon Clay, his large, purple painted lips spreading into a smile. "Vi am Emporio Ivankov, Queen of Kamabakka Kingdom and one of the commanders of the Revolutionary army!" Gasping at the proclamation, Bon Clay's already unsteady legs gave out in his shock and he fell flat onto his ass, staring up at Ivankov, his mouth agape.

"Y-you're E-emporio _Ivankov_!" In all his years, Bon Clay had never _once_ imagined that the Miracle Worker would look like _this_ and yet, as he remembered their brief encounter from however long before, Bon Clay knew it had to be true.

"The one and only, _Heehaw!_ " Iva-sama said with a boisterous cry before he stuck a pose.

Next to him was a man whose clothing ensemble was split equally between white and orange, his hair styled like a three leaf clover. Said man seemed to stare at Bon Clay behind his sunglasses, a lightening bolt shaped scar running down his right eye, before stepping forward to offer his left hand. His right hand contained a glass of red wine.

Taking the offered assistance, Bon Clay allowed the man to help him stand before saying a quick thanks and turning to fully face the Miracle Worker. Surely with him along, Bon Clay would be able to ensure Luffy-chan's escape from Impel Down and if he was _truly_ lucky, Ace-chan's as well.

Heart swelling at the thought, Bon Clay turned and looked straight up at Iva-sama. "Will you help me get to Luffy-chan? _Please_ , I have to help while I still can!" he begged, his pleading eyes locking onto Iva-chan's blank ones. If he could help him one last time then he would be eternally grateful!

"Hmm and what could you possibly do in your state?" The question was coated in thinly veiled skepticism and rather than flinch under it, Bon Clay _glared_. He may be weak and slowly dying, (which admittedly, put a damper on things) but it would take more than that to stop him from saving his friend!

"More than I would do than by just sitting here and wasting away!" he said, moving past the stunned Queen whose mouth had fallen open in surprise. "With or without your help, I _will_ help Luffy-chan escape from this hell!" He _had_ to, otherwise his death would be pointless and Bon Clay _refused_ to die like that.

"Wait, Bon boy," Iva-sama said, grabbing onto Bon Clay's bandaged shoulder with his gloved hand before retracting it when Bon Clay let out a pained hiss. "Vi will help you save your friend, now follow me!" Surprised by his sudden change, Bon Clay couldn't help but gape quietly as the towering okama pushed ahead, leading the large band of prisoners out of the room and into the long hallway.

Running after, Bon Clay took a single step out of the room before coming to a dead stop. "EHH!" he cried, his eyes and mouth open wide. Surely his eyes _had_ to be deceiving him this time!?

In front of him, leaning calmly against the wall was the familiar, tall and brooding form of _Crocodile_ , his former boss while beside him was Jinbei, another Warlord. Honestly, out of all the things he had seen in this huge prison, from nightmarish beasts to cruel torture devices, _this_ had to be the strangest by far.

Were they going to help in the escape as well!? With two (one former) Warlords on their side, surely they could escape from the rumored, _inescapable_ prison, Impel Down!

Crocodile eyed him quietly, not showing one _speck_ of emotion, before turning and following after Ivankov. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Bon Clay followed behind, though admittedly at a slower pace as the Miracle Worker led him and the others through the labyrinth of carved hallways.

After nearly fifteen minutes of marching through the catacombs, Ivankov stopped in front of a rectangular shaped indent in the wall before turning to fully face the crowd of okama behind him.

"Beyond this door will be the hell of level three! From there we will fight our way to level one and rescue Straw boy and if we're lucky, Ace boy as well!" Ivankov said, his loud voice echoing across the stone walls and seeming all that much louder. His words filled Bon Clay with purpose and strength that he was surprised to find. "Remember, once we reach the front door of the prison, we'll need to capture a Navy ship to make it through the calm belt! Now, let's unleash mayhem on Impel Down such as has never been seen before! Heehaw!"

"YEAH!" With a resounding cry, the okama pushed through the door and into the sand covered landscape of level three.

As soon as they began to run, Bon Clay couldn't help but spare a glance towards Crocodile's way, wondering for a moment if level three reminded him of Alabasta and his failed conquest. However, from the rather blank look on his scarred face, Bon Clay doubted that he cared much at all.

No matter, _Bon Clay_ remembered and while Alabasta _was_ where he had gotten captured and as a result, thrown into here, it was also where he met Luffy-chan; that strange, wonderful and loving boy who had stolen Bon Clay's heart and with it, earned his everlasting friendship. So even though he had fallen in that desert country, Bon Clay still remembered it in a fond light.

How else would he have been able to survive as long as he had in the Starvation Hell . . . but it looked like slipping into his memories wouldn't help him any longer.

Coughing, Bon Clay grimaced as he noticed with each, winded sprint, that his body was becoming increasingly harder to move. The neurotoxins had to have been spreading further and most likely, within the next hour or two, he would be completely paralyzed.

Biting his bottom lip as he realized this, Bon Clay couldn't help but push his body harder, passing a few of his compatriots as he tried to get ahead of them. He _needed_ to hurry and get to Luffy-chan!

In the distance, Bon Clay could begin to make out the stairs that would lead them to freedom. But as they grew closer, he and the others noticed with a sinking fear, blue sticking out against the yellow colored sand. _Blugori!_

Despite their hesitation, knowing what savagery the monster guards could bring, they let out a loud war cry and pushed forward, meeting the beasts and guards head on in a loud clash, kicking up sand as their forces collided.

Thanks to the combined efforts of Crocodile, Jinbei, and Iva-san, they were able to make quick work of the guards, but before they could move forward, reinforcements arrived in the form of Sadi and the jailor beasts.

Bon Clay made a valiant effort to try and assist his companions but with how strong the jailer beasts were, he was proving to be of very little help. Crying hot tears of frustration, he collapsed onto the scorching sand.

How could he possibly save Luffy-chan in this sorry state!? He was basically useless! "Why am I so weak!" he cried, already knowing the answer. His time was slowly drawing to a close, he couldn't possibly fight off these stronger guards now! After all, it had taken the combined efforts of himself, Luffy-chan, and those cowards Buggy and Mr. Three, to take down only _one_ of the jailer beasts. He would have no chance now, especially in his weakened state.

Suddenly, a large hand landed on his shoulder, jerking him from his dark thoughts. With bleary eyes, Bon Clay stared at the scarred blue hand before glancing up in shock. "J-jinbei!"

The fishman nodded before he knelt before him, his large form blocking out the fighting that stormed around them. Quietly, the Warlord began to explain to Bon Clay about the _gates_ and that someone _had_ to stay behind to open them. As he listened, Bon Clay nodded along, quickly understanding what Jinbei was alluding to with each whispered word.

"You want me to stay behind." Clearly this was what Jinbei was asking of him and it made perfect sense that he would be the one to stay. After all, he'd be dead before this day was through and at least this way, he could ensure the survival of the others.

Jinbei nodded, his face grim but brimming in _respect_ , not the pity or sadness that Bon Clay had gotten used to seeing since he'd been poisoned. "I was informed that you saved Luffy-san at the cost of your own life. I know that Ace-san would have been grateful for your sacrifice."

"I just wanted to protect my friend," Bon Clay admitted with a smile, rubbing away his tears and sadly smearing his makeup, leaving a dark smudge on his bandaged face, "and at least this way, I can save him again."

"Yes."

With that, Jinbei helped him stand but even still, Bon Clay had never felt as strong as he did at this moment. "Please don't tell Luffy-chan about this, I don't want him to feel guilty." It was a man's final request, surely Jinbei would keep it.

"Of course." Nodding, Bon Clay pushed forward towards the stairs, and with one glance back, he took in the intense battle that was still raging before turning away.

The next steps he took were towards his death but with it, the survival of all of those he had come to cherish.

* * *

Luffy watched quietly from the confines of his small cell as a huge herd of Blugori and guard alike stormed through level two. When he had first heard the familiar sounds of pounding feet, he had been hopeful enough to think that it was Iva-chan, but those hopes were quickly stomped out.

It felt as though it had been hours since he had last seen his friends and with each passing second he grew increasingly more nervous, knowing that right now, Ace was sailing towards Marineford, getting further away from him.

He needed to get out of this damn cell!

Biting his lip, Luffy payed no mind to his bruising arms as he pounded them against the seastone bars that were holding him captive, his cuffs making a harsh clang with each swing. It may have seemed futile, especially considering that he was a devil fruit user, but Luffy would rather die than stop trying. He wouldn't give up!

However, the bars wouldn't budge. Groaning, Luffy crumpled to the cold stone floor, his breath heavy and uneven. He'd been fighting for _hours_ and it was no surprise that his bruised and battered body was making its complaints known.

If Chopper were there, he would no doubt be as equally parts concerned and furious at Luffy for letting himself get hurt so bad and Luffy couldn't help but chuckle lightly at the thought. He could only imagine how his doctor would have reacted if Luffy _had_ gotten himself poisoned by Magellan, but thanks to Bon-chan, he had escaped poison-free.

Now if only Bon-chan were here again.

With a tired sigh, Luffy took off his hat, gently running his fingers over the smooth straw and silky red ribbon, before his slipping them underneath and pulling out Ace's vivre card. Carefully, as not to damage the slowly burning piece of paper, Luffy held it in the palm of his hand, watching with his stomach in knots as it started to inch away from him.

Just how long would he have to endure this increasing distance between himself and Ace?

Putting the vivre card safely back underneath the ribbon, Luffy placed his hat onto his head and turned his pale face towards the front of his cell and gasped as he caught sight of two, _very_ familiar figures standing near the opposite side of the hall. "Buggy! Mr. Three!" he cried, scrambling towards the bars. "It's so good to see you two!"

How long had it been since he had last seen them? Surely it must have been a few hours by now. He was so glad to see that they were alright!

"Eh! Strawhat!" Buggy cried, walking over to Luffy's cage to stand in front of it. Luffy grinned and nodded his head as the other pirate's painted red lips spread into a grin. "HAHA! Look who's got caught now!" Throwing his head back, the clown-faced pirate laughed long and low before Mr. Three came to stand beside him.

Frowning, Luffy shakily stood and almost grabbed onto the bars before thinking otherwise, not needing a double dosage of seastone to further damage him. "Stop laughing! I need you two to get me out of here!" He couldn't wait around until Iva-chan showed up. Not when Ace needed him!

Buggy merely scoffed at his plea and turned away with a scowl. Luffy's keen ears caught him muttering about something as he did.

Seeing that he would be of no help ( _as usual_ ), Luffy turned away from Buggy to look with big eyes at Mr. Three. Surely _he_ would have a heart and release Luffy from his cell! After all, at the start of all of this, he had released Mr. Three. It would only be right of him to return the favor, especially after he and Buggy ran off, leaving Luffy and Bon-chan to fight alone!

"Please, Mr. Three! My brother needs me, if I don't get out of here then he'll be killed!" Voice raising in distress, Luffy felt his heart clench painfully as tears threatened to spill from his eyes. He _couldn't_ lose Ace now, not after coming so close! If Mr. Three would just release him then Luffy was _positive_ that he wouldn't fail this time!

If he did, death would follow him soon after . . . the guilt and sorrow too much for him to bare.

Biting his lip, Mr. Three spared a glance back towards Buggy before shaking his head and turning back around to face Luffy's pleading gaze. "Alright, Strawhat, but only because you did the same for me!" With that, Mr. Three constructed a key of wax and shoved it into the lock.

Hearing the click, Luffy pushed open the door with a cheer! "Thank you Mr. Three!" he cried, wrapping the struggling wax user into a bone-crushing embrace. Mr. Three wheezed before patting Luffy's shoulder, accepting the hug.

Once Luffy released him, Mr. Three gave a relieved sigh and Luffy couldn't help but giggle in return as Mr. Three unlocked his seastone cuffs. Sighing in relief as he finally felt the draining effects from the seastone subside, Luffy grinned widely. Now he could get out of this damn prison!

Ah, but first! "Hey, have you two heard anything from Iva-chan, Inazuma, or Bon-chan?" Luffy asked, folding his arms across his chest as he cocked his head to the side. Hopefully, his three friends had made it out of the lower levels and were making their way up to level two by now.

"Iva-chan?" Buggy repeated, lifting an eyebrow at Luffy who nodded in return.

"Yeah, he's really tall and has this awesome purple afro! Bon-chan calls him the Miracle Worker though if that helps." Sadly though, the description didn't ring any bells for either Buggy _or_ Mr. Three and Luffy was put off by what he should do next.

A part of him wanted to go and check on his friends to make sure that they were okay and would be able to get out of Impel Down. But another part of him knew that every second he stayed there, Ace was getting closer to the executioner's sharpened ax. Gnawing on his bottom lip, Luffy spared a glance down the crowded hall that was filled with other freed prisoners, their clothing making a sea of black and white, and towards the stairs that led down to level three.

However, his choice was made for him as Magellan, already partially coated in his purple poison, appeared from the stairway of level one. As soon as he showed up, the other prisoners screamed and began to scatter like mice. No doubt they too knew how dangerous the Warden could be.

Gulping at the familiar sight, Luffy took a step back as he stared at Magellan with wide eyes. "Strawhat! I see that you've escaped again!" Magellan said, stalking slowly towards them. With each step, thick poison was left behind and Luffy couldn't help but shudder as he remembered what that had done to Bon-chan.

He knew that it would be safer to simply run away like the other prisoners had, especially since Luffy couldn't actually _fight_ Magellan one on one. But as Luffy looked behind the massive, deadly form of the Warden, all he could see was _freedom_.

Once he took Magellan down, Luffy would be one step closer to Ace! All he needed to do was figure out a way to fight him without directly touching him, but how? Mind working in overdrive, Luffy tried to think of a possible solution, but as his heart beat quickly and his stomach clenched, he was at a loss.

Of course, this was the exact moment that Magellan decided to throw one of his hydras their way. Stumbling backward, Luffy thought he was a goner when suddenly, a thick wall of white wax shot up, stopping the hydra dead in its tracks. " _Candle Wall!_ "

"Mr. Three!" Luffy cried, mouth open wide as he stared at the wax user. Then just like that, a switch clicked and Luffy realized how he could fight Magellan. Just like he had back on level four with the minotaurus, he could use Mr. Three's wax as boxing gloves and knock the Warden out!

Opening his mouth to say just that, Luffy stopped as he heard the sounds of many feet coming from behind him. _Oh no!_

Worried that more guards were coming up from level three, Luffy turned around hesitantly and was surprised to find that no, it wasn't guards, but fellow prisoners from Newkama land! Not only that, but leading the huge crowd was Iva-chan!

"Everyone!" Weren't they a sight for sore eyes!

"Straw boy!" Iva-chan cried, running through the crowd to stand beside Luffy. "Vi'm so glad to see that you're alright!" Luffy couldn't help but laugh at that, relieved to see all of his friends again. Taking a look at the large group of escaped prisoners, Luffy looked around for Bon-chan, but instead of finding his friend, Luffy's eyes landed on a familiar _enemy_.

"Crocodile!" he growled, glaring daggers at the former Warlord. "Who let you out!" No matter, Luffy would just have to kick his ass and locked him away again. Stepping forward to do just that, Luffy was surprised when a gloved hand held him back.

"Not so fast Straw boy, he can be a large help to us!" Iva-chan said, nodding at the smirking Crocodile.

"But—"

"Don't worry, Vi know his biggest secret. He won't misbehave." Hearing this, Crocodile's smirk fell as he frowned and turned away to glare at the wall. Chuckling at seeing this, Luffy nodded and turned away. As long as he would be kept under control, Luffy could live with him being on their team.

Glancing over the rest of the prisoners again, Luffy was disappointed that he _still_ couldn't find his friend, Bon Clay. Maybe he was on his way?

"Excuse, me Luffy-kun. You are Ace-san's younger brother correct?" the fishman from level six asked, walking over to Luffy and Iva-chan. Hearing the question, Luffy nodded before turning to fully face him. "Your friend released me so that I might help save your brother, but I felt it necessary to inform you of my intentions."

Luffy blinked dumbly for a moment before nodding. "Alright, I'll take any help that I can get!" with a wide grin, Luffy patted the fishman on the shoulder before he noticed the paling faces of the people that he was currently facing.

Slowly turning around, Luffy's complexion quickly copied theirs as his wide eyes landed on Magellan who was now completely covered in his deadly poison, practically boiling in anger.

"I WILL NOT ALLOW ANY OF YOU TO ESCAPE!" he roared, three hydras forming from his back before charging forward.

Too quick for Luffy to process, another large wall of white wax was shooting up, blocking the hydras once more. "Mr. Three!"

"Hurry! My wax can only hold him off for so long!"

"Wax boy is right! Jinbei, Crocodile, take Straw boy and secure a ship. Vi'll hold Magellan off while you do," Iva-chan said, stepping forward to stand beside Mr. Three.

Both Warlords nodded, shooting past the wall of wax and towards the stairway of level one. Magellan growled and shot a hydra in their direction but with a quick, " _DEATH WINK!",_ from Iva-chan, the beast was blasted apart, allowing Crocodile and Jinbei to get past.

However, Luffy didn't move. "What are you doing Straw Boy!? Vi will handle this, now go!"

"No! I have a plan, you should help the others get to level one, me and Mr. Three will follow you!" Luffy said, his face set in a hard line. There would be no changing his decision when his mind was already made up.

Giving an exasperated sigh, Iva-chan scowled and muttered something that vaguely sounded like, "Father like son," before he huffed and turned away.

"Alright, but if you two aren't up in five minutes, Vi will be coming after you!" With that, Iva-chan and the others followed after Crocodile and Jinbei, leaving Luffy and a pale Mr. Three behind with a raging Warden.

"Okay, Mr. Three! Let's fight him!" Luffy said, slamming his fist into his hand, a hungry glint in his eyes as his lips spread into a smirk.

"No no!" Mr. Three cried, waving his arms. "I was going to run, I don't want to fight!" Luffy ignored him before wrapping a rubber arm around his shoulder.

"Hey, can you do me a favor?" Keeping his voice low as to not alert Magellan of his plans, Luffy quickly explained what he wanted Mr. Three to do. "Can you do that?"

Mr. Three nodded. "Yes, it's possible."

"Okay, I'm counting on you!" Letting go of his companion, Luffy held out his hands and steadied his form.

" _Wax Wax Candle Armor!_ " With a shout and a spray of wax, Mr. Three coated Luffy's hands before they formed large boxing gloves and springy boots. Grinning in excitement, Luffy banged his new gloves together.

"Alright, with these I'm . . . _so cool_!" Luffy couldn't help but exclaim, eyeing Mr. Three's design, vaguely reminded of Franky and his handiwork. No doubt if his shipwright, Usopp, and Chopper were there, they'd think the same.

Well . . . then all the more Luffy would have to tell them when he sees them again. Shooting forward with a confident spring, he shot back his arm, spinning the rubber around until it was wound tight. " _Gum Gum Champion Rifle!_ "

With that, the fight began, minutes passing as Magellan and Luffy fought one on one. It was invigorating for Luffy to _finally_ get revenge for Bon-chan, to finally be able to fight that bastard Warden and teach him the meaning of pain. To _finally_ release all of his anger, sadness, and frustration he'd had to deal with since Sabaody, since he found out his _brother_ was going to be killed.

" _Gum Gum Gatling!_ " With a cry, Luffy unleashed it all. Magellan's only option was to block but under the rapid fire of Luffy's fists, he was unable to dodge them all.

Falling to his knees, Magellan's poison coating disappeared . . . and all that was left behind was a fierce _rage_. Standing to his feet, he stood tall as poison, this one tainted red, poured off his body, glowing with deadly intent until the Warden was completely covered in it.

Still, Luffy didn't falter. So what if this poison was a different color? With Mr. Three's wax attachments, Luffy _would_ defeat him! " _Gum Gum Stamp!_ " With a loud cry, Luffy kicked out his leg and made contact with the suddenly _still_ Warden. He didn't even bother to block the attack.

As soon as the wax sunk in, red spread through, quickly tainting it. Tumbling backward, surprised by the change, Luffy was at a loss of what to do. Luckily, Mr. Three had it covered. " _Wax Wax Release_!"

With another flood of melted wax, Mr. Three dissolved Luffy's gear, saving him from the poison. "That was close!"

Swallowing back the lump in his throat, Luffy and Mr. Three watched in fear as Magellan used this opportunity to flood the hall with his new poison. Everything it came into contact with changed into an ashy color, as if it was being tainted by death itself.

" _Venom Demon_!" Raising his arm, Magellan's eyes sparked red as he dispelled the poison from his body. Stumbling backward, Luffy choked as he saw all the poison combine, swallowing the Warden before forming a beast so horrifying, all Luffy could do was stare, his body becoming numb in unshakable _fear_.

"RUN!" With a desperate cry, Luffy grabbed onto a frozen Mr. Three and booked it towards the stairs. Magellan and his demonic creature followed behind, devouring everything they touched.

" _Hell's Judgement_!" Suddenly the demon's large hand was slamming down but thanks to his quick reflexes and being high on adrenaline, Luffy was able to jump away, pulling Mr. Three with him.

This damn poison was spreading like an infection, coursing through everything it touched with an unforgiving savagery. Luffy knew that if it touched him, there would be little Iva-chan could do to save him. Maybe nothing at all.

So he finally did what people had been telling him to do all along, _he ran_ , pushing forward into level one and towards his only salvation, the entrance to Impel Down.

As soon as he smelt the salty sea and felt that familiar breeze run through his hair, Luffy could feel himself _come alive_ again. There it was, right in front of him, his freedom and home. All he had to do was keep moving forward then he could say goodbye to this horrible place for _good_.

Of course, he wouldn't get very far without a ship. "Did you guys get a ship!?" Luffy yelled over the chaos behind him in the demonic form of Magellan's new attack.

"Almost, run Straw Boy!" Iva-chan said, stepping forward to shoot out a couple death winks that just _barely_ impeded Magellan's assault.

Grinning, Luffy continue to run forward to the exit when a prisoner threw something at him. "Here, it's from Jinbei!" Catching the transponder snail, Luffy blinked at it before it started to speak, the old fisherman's voice filtering through.

"Luffy-kun, did you make it out!?" the snail demanded from the palm of Luffy's hand.

He nodded even though Jinbei couldn't very well see him. "Yeah, but he's still chasing us and we're running out of places to run!" Sparing a glance behind, Luffy shuddered at the sheer devastation that the slow stalking demon had caused.

What would that have done to an actual person? It was dissolving the stone and wood around it, Luffy doubted flesh and bone would last long if it came into contact with it.

Jinbei's voice caught his attention again. "We got a ship but . . . it'll take us some time to get there. No matter, keep running and jump into the water and leave the rest to me!"

Luffy stared, not quite believing what he was hearing. However, if there were any time to take a leap of faith, it was now. Honestly, he felt like he could _trust_ the fishman and he didn't doubt that they would survive. Besides, Jinbei was Ace's friend and _that_ was something Luffy could hold confidence in. "Okay!"

With that, Luffy pushed through the crowd and towards the water that would surely mean certain death if Jinbei failed. The others quickly followed, be it from simply trusting Luffy or knowing that if they stayed, they would have Magellan's poisonous rage to contend with.

Without even giving Magellan the chance to attack, they jumped, out of the Warden's reach and into the freedom they so craved. For a moment as they fell, Luffy thought for sure that they'd sink into the ocean but as soon as they neared the water's edge . . . _they bounced_.

"What is this!?" Luffy cried, staring down at the spotted blue skin of a whale like creature of all things!

"I'm glad you all made it!" Jinbei called from aboard the deck of the Navy ship. "Thank you for trusting me!" Luffy grinned happily, as the large school of whale sharks safely carried them further away from Impel Down before they could board the ship that Crocodile and Jinbei procured.

Stumbling onto the deck, Luffy shivered as he started to come down from his adrenaline high, savoring the fact that he was finally back onto the sea where he belonged. He had thought more times than he could count that he would never leave Impel Down. Especially after nearly dying all those times.

Despite those worries, here he was, sailing away, leaving that hellish place behind like a bad dream. He hoped that someday he could forget that place, but only time would tell.

* * *

He didn't bother to fight the tears that stung at his eyes, spilling down his pale cheeks as he watched, his heart so wonderfully _full_ , as Luffy-chan and the other escaped from the wretched confines of Impel Down.

It was a dream come true, to finally see _someone_ , other than another marine or guard, leave the prison _alive_ and if it truly was just a figment of Bon Clay's imagination, he was fine with not knowing.

It was better to be blind and happy than it would be to see the truth and be broken. So he let himself believe in what he _knew_ to be true, and that was that Straw-chan was _free_. . . for now, at least. Once they passed through the Gates of Justice, the _real_ battle would await them at the unholy land of Marineford.

There, Luffy-chan would have to struggle and fight for his life to save that of his beloved brother's but if Bon Clay knew Luffy, and he did, then he was positive that he _would_ succeed. In fact, it wasn't a matter of _if_ but rather of _when_ the young pirate captain would break the chains that bound Portgas D. Ace.

The only thing that Bon Clay regretted at this very moment was the fact that he wouldn't be able to see it happen with his own eyes. Oh, how he _longed_ to see Luffy-chan, his smile wide, splitting his face in a golden array that put the very sun to shame when he finally rescued his brother. To see the _life_ , the _joy_ , shine from Luffy's eyes when the war came to a successful end.

The image in his head painted a picture so vivid, Bon Clay could almost _swear_ that he was there now witnessing all of this. Sadly though, he wasn't, but he would be free soon enough, but before that, he had one _last_ job to accomplish.

Pressing a stiff hand to his numbing face, the poison taking its tole, Bon Clay's body shifted, forming a perfect carbon copy of the Warden. It was thanks to a stroke of luck that Bon Clay had managed to copy Magellan's face during his time in Impel Down and all he needed now was the proper clothing.

Which, thanks to a closet near level one, Bon Clay had already managed to secure one. It was a tad dark for his tastes (a carnation pink or a maya blue would have been better) and smelled vaguely of mildew and stale milk, but it would be a small price to pay to pull off his next trick.

Slipping into the control office, Bon Clay eyed the many pipes and tubes that covered most of the room before eyeing the dozen or so screens that relayed what was happening outside. Sticking to the wall, wishing to remain unseen, he quietly snatched one of the transponder snails that were scattered around the office.

He had overheard once that they were connected to all the Navy ships in the immediate vicinity and if he was lucky, it would let him hear his friends . . . one last time. Releasing a deep breath, Bon Clay's chest shuddered from the effort, knowing that his organs were starting to fail. He would have to be quick.

Turning his eyes towards the screens, Bon Clay watched, his stomach churning was he watched the other Navy ships open fire on the one Luffy-chan was currently escaping on. Biting his lip to hold back the worried cry that clawed at his throat, Bon Clay inched closer, his body seeking to protect them.

Luckily, most of the cannonballs missed, but one _did_ hit the ship if the plume of dark smoke coming from it was anything to go by. Bon Clay just prayed that it didn't cause too much damage and would be able to carry them all the way to Marineford.

Thankfully, fate seemed to be smiling on him today as Luffy-chan's ship reached the towering Gates of Justice. It was finally time.

Stepping forward, Bon Clay startled the few guards in the room as he loomed behind them, his face set in a dark scowl. "Warden! How can we help you?" they asked, standing to attention. Bon Clay ignored them for a moment, searching out the control panel before spotting it near the west wall.

"Open the gates!" he ordered, staring down at the guards who seemed to quiver under his gaze, no doubt in fear of upsetting the Warden. The man had a nasty habit of killing his fellow guards after all.

The head guard sputtered for a moment, taken aback by the demand. "E-excuse me? Are you sure that is wise, Warden?" Honestly, Bon Clay had to give it to the guard for actually having the guts to question Magellan like that, knowing what his rage could do. Still, he had a mission to carry out.

"Are you questioning _me_?" Bon Clay said, his voice dark and dripping with murderous intent. He was actually quite proud of his performance so far.

Hearing the tone, the guard paled. "N-no! O-of course not!"

"Then open the gates and once the ship passes through, close them immediately!" Giving a stiff salute, the guard turned back towards the simple controls and with a single press to the green button, opened the Gates of Justice.

Being as large as they were, Bon Clay was surprised by how fast they opened, the gap between them widening ever further so that _one_ ship could have the chance to slip right on through.

Of course, this was when the doors to the control room slammed open. "Control room, what are you doing!?" Not needing to turn around, already knowing who the voice belonged to, Bon Clay ignored the seething Warden in favor of staring at the screens.

Letting a small smile twitch at his lips, Bon Clay watched his friends escape. _This_ and this alone would be the last good thing he would see and he would savor its sweetness for as long as time allowed him.

"E-ehh! Warden, then who—"

No, they didn't have time for this. Or rather, _Bon Clay_ didn't. "Close the gates!" he ordered, his tone strong, firm, and above all, resolute. It was the voice of a leader and the guard only blinked dumbly before accepting the command, despite the _real_ Magellan's avid protests.

With one final press of a button, Luffy-chan and the others were finally _free_ and this time, Bon Clay didn't stop a full blown grin was slipping across his face before he released his transformation. " _Memoirs of a Desert Kingdom!_ " Kicking his almost completely paralyzed leg into the control box, he ensured that once these damn gates were closed, it would take a long time to open them again.

"Y-you bastard!" Magellan cursed loudly, the veins in his head bulging, making him look quite hideous, even more so than usual. Despite the unflattering sight, Bon Clay laughed and _laughed_ until tears were spilling down his cheeks and it physically began to hurt.

He had done it! He had succeeded in saving his friends! Nothing Magellan could say or do would change that and it was at this moment, that Bon Clay would be able to die happy.

Then he heard a small voice, one so hesitant and familiar, that Bon Clay was startled to hear again. "B-bon-chan?" _That voice!_

 _Luffy-chan!_

"Why are you doing this, Bon-chan!? It's just like you did in the past, back in Alabasta!" Luffy said, his voice angry and confused, causing Bon Clay's heart to crack under the guilt that it brought. He never wanted to cause his friend grief yet that was what he had done.

"Weren't we gonna break out together!" Luffy said before his voice choked off. "H-how many times have I been saved by you? I-if you're there . . . say something, _Bon-chan_!"

The desperate cry of his name hurt more than anything else he had ever experienced, it stabbed through his heart in the form of unshakable _love_ as he listened with unbelieving ears as the other pirates continued to call out his name, begging for him to answer their pleas.

But how could he? He had never wanted them to know his plans in the first place and if he spoke now, he feared what he would say in his final, fleeting moments.

Then Luffy's voice cut through again, his voice small and quiet, unbefitting of the bright and lively captain. "Bon-chan, the gates are closing. We . . . have to go." Bon Clay gnawed on his lips, fighting the tears that were beginning to slip out . . . and then Luffy and the others spoke one more time. "Thank you!"

The flood gates broke and Bon Clay collapsed into tears as he sobbed, his heart and soul filled with so much _love_ that he was surprised he wasn't bursting at the seams from it. "STRAW-CHAN!" he cried, voice cracking under the strength of it, desperate to get his final message across. "You gotta save your brother at any cost! I know that you can do it, so please, promise me!"

 _Please_ , he had to know that Luffy-chan would succeed and save the man who would make his life better!

"BON-CHAN—"

Their voices cut out . . . but Bon Clay felt no sadness, no pain, for it signalled them moving beyond the gates, safe and _far_ away from Impel Down. He never heard Luffy-chan's answer but he supposed, he never needed to. He _knew_ that Straw-chan could pull off the impossible, even that of saving his brother from certain execution.

His heart stuttering, Bon Clay closed his eyes, a small smile slipping across his lips. _Please, if there is only one more death today, let it be mine_. With that, the man . . . _okama,_ known as Bon Clay, quietly slipped away, falling into deaths comforting embrace, freer than he had ever been.

 _We'll meet again, there in the garden of Okama Way._

* * *

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